Iron From Blood
by AquaDestinysEmbrace
Summary: Talia Forrester's life took a turn for the worse when her twin, Ethan, was brutally killed right in front of her. Now, she's suddenly found herself in a world where the dead come back to life and rampage the land eating the flesh of the living. Now, she must adapt to this new world and its customs in order to survive. After all... Iron From Ice. (co-written with WalkingDeadRox)
1. New World, New Faces

**So, Q and I were doing this in a RP and we got an idea to make this into a story, so here we go! We hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

Talia looked around within the mysterious forest unsure of her surroundings. They didn't look like the Ironwood forest that she was so accustomed to. They were different. They seemed more dark, depressing, and even creepy. "Where am I?" Talia questioned. Even the air was off. It had a foul odor to it. Despite being in the protected family castle of Ironrath, Talia knew the stench of death when she smelt it.

Where was her mother? Where was everyone? She didn't understand what was happening. She was in the grove walking to try and clear her thoughts after the incident with Ramsay and Ethan when the forest around her suddenly changed to the one she was in. But why could she smell the stench of death?

The stench of death was... worse than what it had been. It was more concentrated and more powerful than usual. "What is that awful smell?" Talia asked as she covered her nose in an attempt to prevent some of the fumes from reaching her nose. The smell seemed to come from everywhere. She then accidentally tripped on a root and fell onto the ground below her. "Oof!" she grunted before she pushed herself up. The smell reached her nose again and she gagged, covering her nose with her hand.

She had to get out of there... She had to get back to Ironrath and inform the soldiers that there might something dead in the forest, but there was one problem: she had no idea where she was.

"H-Hello?" she called out, hoping someone would answer as she continued walking. Sadly, no one replied. Here she was, in a place she had no recollection of with the smell of death everywhere. She pushed some bushes out of her way to keep walking.

She stumbled on her dress a bit before she could hear her footsteps hit what sounded like gravel. She looked down and noticed that the ground was... gray as she kept walking?

It was nothing that she had ever seen before. The workmanship was nothing that she had ever seen. It was so precise and accurate. She looked up to see many castle-like structures. Many were huge and intimidating. She could see several odd structures in overturned and abandoned postures, as well as smoke coming from the castle-like structures. Talia noticed that many stray items littered the gray, hard ground beneath her as she walked through the area. "What is all of this?" Talia asked as she picked up an item with a word on it called 'crackers'. "So bizarre looking." Talia said to herself as she looked at the packaging. "What would it be used for?"

The Forrester then saw what appeared to be a person near an odd looking structure on wheels. "Excuse me?" she called as she began to walk towards it. "Do you know where we are?"

The person turned and Talia screamed. The person's face was rotten and its mouth was in a permanent snarl. The apparel the thing wore was tattered and ruined. "By the gods!" Talia exclaimed with shock. She backed away as the growling monstrosity got closer. It looked like a white walker but she wasn't even near anywhere cold. How could it be a white walker?

Talia backed away from the thing with fear, but tripped on her feet, landing on her back. She looked up with horror as it stumbled and reached towards her, ready to grab her.

Just then, a loud bang rung througout the air. Talia saw a hole appear in the creature's forehead before it suddenly went limp and collapsed on the ground. Talia looked on in horror. Talia turned to find the source of the loud boom and saw a woman and a young man at the door of one of the castle like structures. "Quick run! Get in here!" the young man exclaimed to her as more monstrosities staggered out.

She was shocked seeing the apparel that the two people wore. The woman's dress even showed her legs! "What are you doing?! Come on!" the young man exclaimed. Snapping out of her shock, Talia scrambled to her feet and ran to them as fast as her dress would allow her. The woman grabbed her and quickly brought her through a metal structure as the young man placed something else on the structure as he closed it.

* * *

Talia huffed once inside the castle like building. "You okay?" The woman asked her.

"Y-Yes... I... I think so." Talia panted. Talia couldn't help but be astonished by the woman's apparel. It was bizarre and somewhat offensive.

"What were you thinking?" Another woman was heard. Talia looked up to a mean and unkind looking woman glaring at her and the person who saved her. "She's a kid! I couldn't just let those things eat her!" the woman retorted.

This mean and unkind woman was wearing odd clothes that barely covered her arms. She was shocked by that woman's apparel as well. "We can't keep doing this." the woman frowned. "And we can't just keep letting people die either, just like I said!" the woman who saved her retorted.

"When I said those doors stay shut no matter what, I fucking meant it!" the mean woman snapped. "No more saving people! We already have those two fucking families in here."

A large, fat, and mean looking man scowled. "Lilly, you've got to keep control of these damn people! And what're YOU supposed to be? A princess?" he spat at Talia.

"Hey, ease up on her!" a dark skinned man defended Talia.

"I'm not a princess." Talia stated with an angry tone lacing her voice. "I'm the second daughter to Lord Gregor and Lady Elissa Forrester."

The statement only earned looks of confusion from everyone in the room. "Who?" The dark skinned man asked. "What the fuck are you talking about?" The mean lady inquired.

"The Forresters! My family! They're in control of Ironrath!" Talia exclaimed, but everyone continued to look at her with confused stares. Why were they looking at her like that? Did they not know who the Forresters were?!

"Uhh... Lee, you're the history buff. Do you know what she's talking about?" the young man asked.

"I'm a history buff when it comes to American history. I don't know anything about an Ironwrath or a Family of Forresters." the dark skinned man answered with a shrug. "American?" Talia asked with confusion. The word sounded foreign to her.

The big, fat, mean old man crossed his arms and glared at Talia. "Yeah, you're in America." the young man clarified. Talia still had a confused stare. "Did... you bump your head or something?" the woman who had saved her asked. Talia shook her head. "No. I was walking through the Ironwood forest when suddenly, the area around suddenly turned darker and rather gloomy looking." she answered.

The group of people looked to her with confusion. "Ironwood Forest?" the dark skinned man known as Lee asked. "There's no forest named that around here."

"What?!" Talia gasped. "B-But I was walking through it and I somehow ended up in this strange place!"

"Listen, girlie! We have no time for your little fantasy game!" the big, fat, mean old man told her rudely. "Dad, calm down. Your heart-" the mean lady told him gently. "This is no fantasy!" Talia exclaimed. She looked around and noticed that there were more oddities in the people's apparel. The castle like structure was even more bizarre with weird object holding other objects. Could it be that _she_ was the one out of place rather than the people she was talking to. "Where am I?" Talia asked as she started to calm down. "Where am I exactly?"

Lee crossed his arms and looked at Talia. "You're in a drugstore in a town called Macon in a state called Georgia in a country called The United States of America." he explained gently.

"I... okay." Talia whispered as she let this new reality sink in. "Wh-What happened to my family, my home?"

"We have no idea. You just got here blabbering about this stuff we have no clue about." a man with light brown hair with odd attire, odd trousers, and odd shoes replied.

"This girl is obviously a nut." the fat old man accused.

"I am not!" Talia defended herself. She found herself disliking this man more and more.

"Why don't we just throw her out!" The old man exclaimed.

"Look, obviously something's up." Lee interrupted. "I mean, look at her. She's wearing clothes that look like are from the thirteenth and fourteenth century."

"Are you saying that you believe her?" the light brown haired man inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not saying that, but what I am saying is that I don't think she's nuts." Lee replied. Talia was relieved that the man, Lee, wasn't like the old man. "Guys... I... I have to admit that Lee might be right. Where else would she have gotten those clothes?" the woman pointed out.

"From a museum, duh!" the old man spat.

"She's just a child. Let's just leave her be for a bit. She's probably terrified by those things out there." another woman said. She was different. She was rather big, but she seemed kind. Her apparel had a bit of a floral design on it.

However, the old man just scowled. "This girl is obviously not right in the head."

"And you just want to kill her. Now, how does that sound? Maybe you're the one who's nuts!" Lee snapped at the old man. "Hey, I'm not going to risk having a crazy girl in here with us!" the old man growled.

Talia frowned. "I am NOT crazy! I just want to know who you people are, where I am, and how I got here!" she said, beginning to lose patience with the old man. "Hey, you don't get snippy with me girlie!" the old fat man spat. "Otherwise, I'm going to smash your face in!"

Talia's eyes widened at the threat.

"DAD!" the mean woman snapped at the old fat man.

"Leave her alone!" Lee defended Talia. "She's scared. Don't make this worse, Larry!"

"Lee... why is he being mean to that girl?" Talia heard a voice asked. She noticed a girl wearing a yellow dress with wild hair with an odd white and blue object on her head clinging to Lee nervously.

I don't know, sweet pea." Lee told her gently.  
"Dad, you need to calm down, NOW. It is not a big deal." the mean woman said.

"Do you have any fucking idea how dangerous it is to have a psycho with us?!" Larry exclaimed.

"I am not a psychopath!" Talia exclaimed. "I want to know what's going on!"

"What's going on is that we have a lunatic in here." Larry scowled at her. He almost reminded her of Ludd Whitehill: fat, rude, doing everything he can to get what he wants.

"You're right. We do have a lunatic in here and I'm staring right at him." Talia frowned up at him.

The old man glared at her and spat, "You little shit!" He went to throw a punch at her, but thanks to her quick reflexes she was able to avoid his attack. What is wrong with this man? A real man would never insult or try to hit a girl.

"DAD!" the mean woman exclaimed. "What are you doing?!"

"Bitch!" Larry growled as he swung at her, but Talia ducked down. "What kind of man insults and tries to hit a girl?!" Talia exclaimed.

"Stop, please!" the kind woman pleaded Larry. Larry swung once again, but once again he missed. However, Talia hit the wall and had no more room to duck and weave around the old man. "Now, I got you, you little bitch!" Larry snapped. He drew his fist back and was ready to deliver a swing that would connect. Talia braced for the impact and shut her eyes.

Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed his, stopping him from hurting her. "Stay out of this!" Larry growled at Lee.

"You're prepared to beat a girl who did nothing wrong to you!" Lee frowned. "She's scared, just like the rest of us!"

"No, she's psychotic. We need to throw her out or kill her!" Larry growled, determined to get rid of the girl. He turned his glare back to Talia, but the mean woman from earlier got between Talia and Larry.

"Get out of the damn way, Lilly!" Larry spat.

"I'm not going to let you do this." Lilly said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "If you want to hurt her, you're going to have to go through me."

"Lilly, can't you see she's psycho?!" Larry growled. "It doesn't matter! You trying to beat a kid!" Lilly exclaimed. "It was bad enough when you tried to kill that guy's kid!"

"You heard what she called me!"

"Your heart, Dad! You can't strain yourself!" Lilly told him. "Lilly, I'm handling this! Stay out of it!" Larry ordered. "No, you're going to calm down and you are going to leave her alone. The last thing we need is for you to get worked up and have a heart attack." Lilly frowned.

"Can't you see that this girl's just as scared as the rest of us?" the woman who saved Talia earlier told him.

"She's obviously not right in the head! Forresters, Lords and Ladies, this shit about Ironwood forests..." Larry growled. "And she looks like she's playing dress-up!"

Talia chose to ignore the man's bantering since doing so would probably get her in trouble. She was already in hot water as of now.

"Look, all I know is that she is just a child. I don't care if it's make-believe or not... who knows, maybe she lost her family and this is just her coping with that." Lee said.

"I'm not making any of this up." Talia insisted to Lee. "I swear, all of it's true." she added. "I really am from Ironrath, I really am the second daughter of Lord Gregor and Lady Elissa Forrester!"

"Look, I don't know what to tell you. We've been stuck in this pharmacy since everything went down south." Lee told her. Just then, Talia heard rapid booms outside. Everyone ducked down. She didn't know what to do, so the woman who saved her brought her down. "What's happening?" Talia asked nervously.

"Is it the military?" Lee asked.

"Thank god for whatever it is." the young man muttered. Larry growled and got to his feet. "We almost died because of you!" he snarled at Talia.

"Me? You were the one trying to hurt me!" Talia retorted angrily as she got to her feet.

"And you were the one to lose your damn marbles!" the brown haired man snapped.

"Hey, you should fuck off!" Larry snapped, but suddenly, he growled in pain and clutched his chest. "DAD!" Lilly cried out as she rushed to him just as he hit the ground.

"M-My pills..." he groaned as he tried to get up

"What's wrong with him?" Talia asked.

Lilly looked up at her. "He has heart problems. That's why I try to keep him from stressing himself."

"I'm sorry." Talia apologized.

"Don't be. It's not your fault." Lilly replied.

"I guess we'll need to get in that pharmacy, now." Lee muttered as he crossed his arms. "He needs nitroglycerin pills." Lilly clarified.

"While we're trying to get in there, someone should keep watch." a man with an accent with an odd mustache, wearing odd attire, as well as a strange orange object on his head, said. "Doug, you be our lookout."

"Sure thing." the light brown haired man, Doug, replied.

"Katjaa, you help get Duck cleaned up. Lilly, you look after your dad. Carley, be ready. You're a good shot, and I'd like to keep it that way." the man said to the woman who saved Talia. "Now let's get him those pills."

Talia wandered around the room nervously. Everything was new to her and nothing was making any sense. However, she owed her thanks to Lee for helping her with Larry. She went up to the man as he looked over the young girl that Talia recognized earlier. "Hello, um... Lee." Talia greeted nervously.

He got up and looked to Talia. "Hi, Talia."

"Thank you for helping me back there." Talia told him. "No problem." Lee nodded. Talia looked down. "I honestly don't know what's going on. I was walking through the Ironwood forest after the incident with Ramsay Bolton, then I found myself here..."

"Who's this Ramsay Bolton?" Lee asked curiously.

Talia frowned. "He's the son of the new Warden of the North. He... controls other families who live in the same area that I lived." Talia explained.

"He was a psychopath... he... DID THINGS to other women, regardless of age. He kills for fun." Talia shuddered.

"Why hasn't anyone arrested him?" Lee asked, disturbed to hear that an individual like that could be on the loose.

Talia shook her head. "He's the bastard son of Roose Bolton, the Lord of House Bolton. He's just as bad. He... also killed my twin brother Ethan... I could never forgive him for what he did." Talia said bitterly on the last part.

"The fuck!" Lee muttered. He stopped himself and said, "Sorry. I should watch my language around you. It's just... a monster like that having all that power... How old are you, anyway?"

"I'm 14." Talia replied. "Ethan was the same age... I have a younger brother that's 7. I have an older sister, and two older brothers, although on eof them, I haven't seen in four years... But my younger brother was taken by House Forrester's enemies, the Whitehills."

"The Whitehills?" Lee asked, raising an eyebrow. First the Forresters, now the Whitehills? "Why are you two enemies?"

Talia shook her head again. "It's just been that way for years. The Whitehills constantly blame us Forresters for their problems. Things got even worse when their soldiers attacked a pig farmer's family and killed all except one. The Whitehills ordered we paid for it, even though they were the ones who started it. That's when Lord Whitehill brought Ramsay Snow." Talia muttered sadly, then lowered her voice so the girl wouldn't hear. "Even though we obeyed Ramsay, he shoved a knife through Ethan's throat... right in front of Mother, Ryon, and I..."

Lee gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry Talia. I know that couldn't be easy." Lee said.

"A-After that, they took Ryon away. Lord Whitehill has him." She looked down sadly. "I'm sure he's trying to brainwash him... Ethan and Ryon were taken from us... and I just stood there, unable to do anything... I want to see my twin so much..." she whispered, choking up a bit.

"Hey, you okay?" Lee asked with a worried look aimed at her.

Talia shook her head. "N-No. Mother wanted me to write a song for the funeral, but I-I couldn't do it, not this soon after Ethan died... so I went on a walk through the grove and I found myself here..." she explained.

Unknown to Talia, some of the group was listening to her tale. Lee stared at the girl. "You're really not making this up, are you?" he asked after a moment.

Talia shook her head. "It's true, I swear!"

"Okay... listen, Talia... this may sound weird to you, and it will even sound weirder when I say it. I don't know how, but you somehow ended up in a different world from your own. We have different rules here. And it may not look like it, but we are going to try and help you since you're still just a kid." Lee told her gently before aiming a look at Larry. "Well... most of us."

"A... a different world?!" Talia asked incredulously. She was shocked by this information. No wonder why everything seemed so different!

"Yeah..." Lee nodded. "We don't have castles, wardens, lord, or ladies."

This was all foreign to Talia. She shook her head in disbelief and exclaimed, "You have to have something!"

"Well, we have cars, governors, mayors, stores, presidents, universities..." he listed.

Talia just had a blank look. This sounded so foreign to her...

"Presidents are like the one who's in charge of a country, but has others to help him with stuff." Lee explained.

"And what exactly are all the other things?" Talia asked.

"Cars are like... mini houses on wheels. Governors and mayors are kind of like lords, but they have to follow the laws and we have very strict laws. A store is what we're in right now. Stores can have food, water, medicine, and other supplies. And well... I used to work at a university. It's like school, but for adults. It helps them learn and gets them to move up in the world... if they want to." Lee kept explaining.

"School...?" Talia rose an eyebrow.

"A place where people go to learn. But most people your age practically hate school." Lee chuckled softly. "Their parents made them go anyway, even if they hated it."

"And...the president is the king?" Talia asked. "We had a king named Joffrey that was just a few years older than me, but he is an absolute tyrant that had Ned Stark, Lord of House Stark executed by beheading for treason, even though Ned never did anything treacherous..."

"Yeah, thankfully, that doesn't happen in our society. Our president is not in complete control. It's the people who have the final say. We live in a democracy... or did. The walkers pretty much ruined everything in our society." Lee told her.

"Walkers?" Talia asked curiously.

"It's what we call those things out there. They're corpses that stumble around eating anyone they can find alive and eat their flesh." the man explained.

Talia was disturbed by that information. "We... We had something similar to that back where I lived. They were called white walkers, but they always lived in the north. The only way to kill one of them is by heat." Talia explained. "They are kept out of Westeros by the Wall, a huge wall spanning miles and miles across the land at the border. The Night's Watch keeps them out too."

"Well, they can't get here." Lee assured her.

"It's a good thing too." Talia nodded. "I think that we have enought to worry about."

"Agreed." Lee nodded in reply. He looked over to Larry and said, "I'd hate to leave, but I gotta go find medicine for that pile of crap over there. How about you talk to Clementine?" He gestured to the girl next to him as she smiled at Talia.

Talia nodded. "Okay." she replied.

Lee went to find pills as Talia sat next to Clementine. "Hello." she greeted the younger girl.

"Hi. I'm Clementine." the little girl introduced.

"I'm Talia."

"I like your dress." Clementine smiled shyly.

"Oh? Thank you. I like yours too. It looks cute on you." Talia told her.

Clementine smiled shyly and said, "Thanks."

"So, where's your mother?" Talia asked.

"She and my dad went to Savannah on vacation and left me with a babysitter, but she became one of those things." Clementine explained. "Lee found me a couple days later when I was hiding in my treehouse. We've been looking out for each other ever since."

"Wait, Lee's not your father?" Talia questioned with surprise. Clementine shook her head. "No. He's been taking care of me." she replied. "That's really nice of him." Talia smiled, but her smile soon fell and she looke down at her lap. "I miss my father..."

"Where's your daddy?" Clementine asked curiously.

"He's dead. Killed at the Twins during the Red Wedding..." Talia answered truthfully. "I'm sorry." Clementine told the older girl with sympathy.

"It's okay." Talia muttered. "I do miss him a lot. He was a kind and brave man. I miss my twin as well..." Talia added sadly.

"Lee's taking care of me until we find my parents." Clementine said. "I hope they're okay..."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"No. I'm an only child..." Clementine muttered. "I always wanted a sister..."

"I have one older sister, one younger brother, and two older brothers." Talia stated. "Although one is exiled and the other is gravely injured... my sister is off at Kings Landing serving as a handmaiden."

"Why was one of your older brothers exiled and why was the other one injured?" Clementine inquired. "And what does exile mean?"

"Exile means to banish someone from an area and order them to not return for a very long time. Rodrik was injured at the Red Wedding and thought to be killed alongside Father, but Rodrik survived. But his arm and leg are badly injured and half of his face is heavily scarred. My other older brother, Asher, was exiled because he fell in love from someone that belonged to our enemy's House. Father was faced with a terrible decision: go to war, or exile Asher. Sadly, he chose to exile Asher... I haven't seen Asher in four years..."

"That must be awful..." Clementine said sadly.

"How old are you?" Talia asked, hoping to change the subject.

The little girl smiled. "I'm eight."

"My younger brother is just a year younger than you." Talia smiled softly. "What was he like?" Clementine asked.

"Like you... fun and innocent and very kind." Talia told her. "I'm sure you both would have gotten along. I haven't seen him ever since... the Whitehills took him as a hostage..."

Clementine gasped. "Why would they do that?"

"Because both lords of House Forrester were dead, they took the last heir, Ryon, as hostage to keep us in line and... they threatened to harm him if we didn't do what they ordered us to. And they're ordering us to stand down in the dirt like we're nothing..." Talia explained with a frown.

"That's really mean..." Clementine frowned at the thought of someone doing such a thing.

"I know... I just wish that they never came with Ramsay Bolton in the first place. Clementine, do you mind if I go talk to the other people around here? I'd like to know just what is going on." Talia requested.

The young girl nodded. "Okay."

Talia got up and headed to talk with the woman who had saved her earlier. "Hello." Talia greeted the woman.

The woman looked away from a device she was tinkering with. "Hi, how are you holding up, kid?" the woman asked her.

"I'm alright, but a little shaken up... I'm Talia." Talia introduced.

"I'm Carley." the woman replied with a nod. "Thank you for saving me from that... thing outside." Talia thanked.

Carley shrugged. "No problem. I couldn't just stand and let a kid die."

Talia then looked at Carley's apparel. "Forgive me, but I've never seen a woman wear a dress that would show her legs..."

Carley chuckled and answered, "You heard Lee. You're in a new world. Hell, in our world, this is considered dressing up."

Talia looked to her apparel with a strange expression. It didn't look right to her. "Besides, to relax, I'll usually wear a pair of jeans and a shirt." Carley added.

"... jeans?" Talia asked with confusion. "Trousers." Carley answered. "Lilly and Katjaa are wearing them right now."

Talia looked to the other two women in the pharmacy and was surprised. They were wearing just what Carley had described! "But, that's what boys wear." she protested.

"Well, not anymore." Carley shrugged. "Hell, you should try a pair on. They're probably more comfortable than that dress you're wearing."

"My dress is perfectly comfortable... although not when running..." Talia admitted.

"We can find you some later." Carley offered. Talia looked at Larry, who was slumped over as Lilly tended to him. "Why is such a man here?" she asked her.

"He's Lilly's father, so Lilly's been sticking with him. He's a real pain in the ass to everyone." Carley whispered so Larry couldn't hear. "You saw just how bad he is earlier."

"I can't beleive he'd be willing to hurt or kill me..." Talia shook her head. How could such a man be loose without being punished?

"Yeah, he really needs to calm down. Before he targeted you. He tried to kill Katjaa's and Kenny's boy. Good thing Lee was here to get him to back off." Carley said as she glanced at said man. "If he didn't, we would have had a dead kid..."

Talia turned to the device that Carley used and asked, "What is that thing that you used outside to kill that monstrosity?"

"It's called a gun. Very dangerous if you point it at someone and pull the trigger. Those things out there can be taken out by these. I can teach you how to use one after we get you some new clothes, if you'd like." Carley offered.

"Are they like swords? Because Ser Royland, the Master-at-Arms of Ironrath, secretly taught me how to fight with one without my mother knowing." Talia admitted. The experienced soldier taught her quite a lot on how to use a sword.

"No, but if you hit someone with them on the head, they hurt." Carley said. "Guns are used as ranged weapons. Small, but deadly. But they make a lot of noise, and those walkers out there are attracted to noise."

"Swords are kind of out dated. We still use knives, machetes, and axes." Carley explained. "So, what's different about a gun? Why are they so powerful? Are they magical or something?" Talia inquired with curiosity laced in her tone. The information was stunning to her more and more by the second.

Carley chuckled. "No, they aren't magical. They're packed with bullets, which are like arrows, but smaller. They're shot from the gun, and if one hits you, it hurts like hell." the reporter explained. "And if you're using one for the first time, the kickback can make the gun hit your face. Trust me, that's happened to me before when I first took shooting lessons."

"Okay, but they seem like a drawback as opposed to a crossbow." Talia noted.

"Not exactly." Carley shook her head. There are guns out there that can shoot many bullets in only a few seconds. My handgun is actually considered semi-automatic, which means if I keep pressing the trigger I can keep shooting more bullets. It would take a while to reload a crossbow."

"That's... amazing." Talia stated with awe in her voice.

Carley nodded. "So, if you're gonna be with us, you'll need to know how to defend yourself. You should watch your back around Larry, though." Carley advised.

The Forrester nodded. "I will." she replied.

"Maybe you should talk to Kenny and his family." Carley suggested as she gestured to the man with the oddly shaped facial hair and the kind woman from earlier. "Get to know them. Make sure you don't get on their bad side."

Talia nodded. "Alright." she replied before she walked past what appeared to be shelves to reach the man, Kenny. "Hello?" she asked. The woman, Katjaa, looked up from tending to the boy. "Hello." she greeted.

"Heya." Kenny nodded. "How are you feeling? I can't believe Larry attacked you like that." Katjaa said.

"That fucker is a danger to us all." Kenny muttered as he looked over to Larry.

"I'm okay... I just can't believe he nearly beat me. Even when I acted very bad when I was little, my mother and father never physically beat me." Talia shook her head. "That old asshole is _really_ pushing his luck. First he tries to kill our son, then he tries to beat a girl. HE'S the one who should be thrown out." Kenny frowned.

Talia glanced back at Larry. "He sort of reminds me of Lord Ludd Whitehill..."

"Who?" Katjaa wondered.

"He was an enemy to my house. He... took my little brother away from us." Talia answered.

Kenny's eyes widened. "Damn... sorry to hear that." Kenny told her. "They both have so much in common. They're both fat, they're both rude, they're both willing to hurt children..." Talia whispered to them.

"Ludd Whitehill sounds like an awful man. I hope we never get to meet him." Katjaa said.

"I'd hate to admit it, but... I wouldn't mind seeing him again if it meant that I could see my family. I already miss them." Talia said with a frown forming on her face and tears forming in her eyes, but she blinked away the tears. She needed to be strong right now. Kenny crossed his arms as he glanced at Larry. "Why do I get the feeling that those two would get along great?" he frowned.

Talia noticed the boy Katjaa was tending to. "Hello, there." she greeted.

However, the boy was silent. "Is something wrong?" Talia asked, raising an eyebrow. Was he a mute?

"He's a little shaken up. One of those things almost got him." Katjaa explained. "But Carley and Glenn saved us."

"That cannot be easy..." Talia noted. "What's his name?"

"Duck." Kenny replied.

This caused Talia to raise an eyebrow. "Duck? Like the bird?"

"Yeah. It's a nickname. His real name's Kenny Junior." Kenny nodded.

"Why is he called 'Duck'?" Talia questioned. Never in all of Westeros had she ever heard of someone called 'Duck'. "Well, we have a phrase around these parts. If someone isn't affected by something, we say that it's like water off a duck's back." Kenny explained.

"I understand. It's a cute nickname." Talia commented. Katjaa smiled. "Thank you." she thanked her.

"Lee over there told me quite a lot of what this world was like." Talia told them. "You people have quite a few interesting customs. I feel sort of... primitive compared to your customs."

"We can help you adjust to this if you'd like." Katjaa offered.

"Thank you, but I think I can figure most of it out. I was always good at adjusting and learning." Talia told them. "And Carley's going to help me shoot and get me some new clothes so I won't be so limited in movement. I have to admit, I'll like being able in making a difference. It always infuriated me that I would have to rely on a man back home to get anything done." Talia frowned softly at the memory. "I'm more than capable myself."

"That's good to hear. It must have been frustrating for you wherever you came from." Katjaa noted. "Well, you better watch your back. Those things can sneak up on you when you least expect it." Kenny warned. "And maybe watch your back around Larry, too. Fat, crazy piece of shit might try to throw anyone in here who pisses him off out."

Talia nodded. "I will. Thank you for the warning." she told him before she then walked away and headed over to Lilly, who was still taking care of Larry. Talia kept her distance, scared of what Larry might do next. "Um... hello..." she greeted a tad bit nervously.

"Hey." Lilly replied as she stood up. "Sorry about my dad... I never thought he would go all apeshit like that."

Talia rose an eyebrow at her. "I thought you didn't like me?" she questioned, slightly surprised by the woman's change in behavior. "I was only worried about my people. We already took a big risk bringing in Kenny, Katjaa, Duck, Lee, and Clementine." Lilly answered. "We made another risk when Carley and Glenn saved you."

Talia glanced at Larry. "How do you manage to put up with your father?" Talia asked. She was amazed that someone like Lilly could deal with someone like him. "That's just how he is." Lilly answered. "I know he can be an asshole, but that's only because he has one last thing in this world to protect. So don't judge me if I take his side."

Larry glared up at Talia. "Looney." he gritted out.

"Dad, leave the kid alone. Don't get stressed without your pills." Lilly scolded.

"Lilly, what did you do before? Did you stay while your father did the work?" Talia asked the older woman. Lilly scoffed quietly. "Hah, things like the ladies staying home while the men do the tough stuff are outdated, kid. Both men and women work and do tough stuff. I was a mechanical admin at Warner Robins."

"... a what?" Talia asked. Everything she was hearing sounded so foreign. "Mechanical admin is the person in charge of working a machine, in my case, a plane. Warner Robins is an airforce base." Lilly explained.

Talia was still confused by the jargon. "What's a plane? And an airforce base? What's that?" Talia asked. "So many questions... A plane is a vehicle that can fly through the air. An airforce base is a military base where the airforce resides to prepare for missions." Lilly explained.

"It can fly through the air like dragons?!" Talia asked incredulously.

Lilly rose an eyebrow and said, "Kind of... a plane can fly four times faster than a dragon. Did you have dragons wherever you came from?"

"Of course we do!" Talia answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Stupid... dragons only exist in fairy tails." Larry spat from the ground. "Not where I come from. Of course dragons are a rare sight now." Talia noted. "They're rarely seen in Westeros, but they're mostly in Essos. House Targaryen is deeply associated with dragons."

"Westeros? Is that the name of the world you come from?" Lilly asked.

"Yes." Talia nodded.

"You should be in an asylum." Larry gritted out.

"And you should be in a dungeon for trying to attack me." Talia retorted.

"You and your stupid fairy tale shit!" Larry barked at her. "Back at home, people like you would be thrown into dungeons if they went too far." Talia frowned.

"Fuck you!" Larry growled in pain. Talia was surprised that Larry had swore at a girl like that. Clearly, he had no manners and respect.

"Dad, stop." Lilly told him. "Look, maybe you should go check with Clementine again. I've seen him act this way before; he won't stop anytime soon."

"That might be a good idea." Talia replied. She quickly walked away from Lilly and Larry and started her search for the eight year old, hoping she wouldn't hear anything else from Larry. However, she couldn't see the child anywhere, but noticed that Lee and Carley weren't in the room either. Where could they have gone?

* * *

Talia looked around until she noticed an open door. Maybe they were in there. Talia approached the door and overheard the conversation on the other side. "I know who you are." It sounded like Carley. "You're Lee Everett, a professor at Athens who killed a State Senator who was sleeping with your wife. This is your parents' store, folks around town know the owner's son got himself a life sentence, but I'm a reporter working for WABE in Atlanta." Talia's eyes widened upon hearing the information... There was no way Lee was a murderer. He was so calm and understanding... surely it was a mistake!

She decided to hide and eavesdrop on them.

"I paid attention to that trial. Maybe you're a muderer, but I don't really care. Frankly, that's a skill that might come in handy." Carley told him. "Humph." Lee muttered. It was strange. He wasn't even defending himself.

"Did you tell anyone out there who you were or that you were tied to this place?" Carley asked.

"No. There's reason why I'm sticking with first names." Lee replied. Carley was silent for a moment. "You seem like an okay guy, and the last thing we need is drama out there. You've got this little girl to take care of and we have someone who's not accustomed to this place that came from a different world, so... don't make me wrong on this."

"I don't plan to." Lee replied.

"Good. Because if this lasts longer than a few days and you're a detriment to the group, then we'd have a problem." Carley said.

Talia heard Lee reply, "I hear you."

"I'll just keep it to myself." Carley told him. Through the cracked door, Talia could see that Lee had a thankful smile at this. "Thanks."

"Don't mention in it." Carley replied. Talia could hear the woman's heels approaching the door. She backed away and pretended to be interested in the items on the shelf. Granted she had never seen the packaging or the items before, but she intended to not be caught eavesdropping. She prayed that Carley wouldn't notice, but she could hear Carley approaching her. "Talia?"

Talia inwardly winced. "Yes?" she asked as she turned to the woman.

"You were listening in on my conversation with Lee, weren't you?" Carley crossed her arms.

"I don't know what you mean." Talia tried to play it off. How did she know that she was eavesdropping?

"I could see you through the crack of the door." Carley told her. Talia mentally smacked herself. She needed to be more discreet next time she ever eavesdropped on anyone again. "How much did you hear?" Carley asked her.

Talia pursed her lips and replied, "Everything."

Carley sighed and brought Talia to a corner so no one could hear them. "Look, you can't tell anyone about what you just heard." she told her. "You're mistaken." Talia told her. "There's no way that Lee would ever hurt anyone. He's a nice man. I've seen true murderers and psychopaths. He's not one of them."

"Talia, all evidence pointed to him. He even confessed it in court. He was guilty and he knew it." Carley said gently.

"You're wrong. He couldn't have." Talia shook her head as she hugged her arms. She felt a cold chill run down her spine.

"I was there to report the trial. He confessed it himself. Said he was in a fit of rage. But from what I've seen, he regrets it deeply." Carley told her.

"B-But Lee is such a nice man!" Talia protested. "I know he is." Carley nodded. She placed her hands on the girl's shoulders and said, "Talia, I need you to look at me." The girl hesitantly complied and Carley continued, "Lee is not a bad man. As you saw, he's a very kind man, but he felt a lot of anger and hurt when he saw that senator with his wife. Do you remember how angry you were when Ramsay stabbed and killed your brother?"

Talia was surprised that Carley had heard that, but shakily nodded. "Y-Yes... I hate that man more than anything in all of Westeros..." she said bitterly.

"You see? Lee just had one of those moments. He had about the same amount of rage and hurt in him that you did, but unlike you, he couldn't control it."

"I... I understand. Thank you, Carley." Talia said. "You promise you won't tell anyone?" Carley asked.

Talia nodded. "I-I promise. I think I should go talk to Lee."

"Well, if you're gonna do that, be careful. It's a touchy subject for him." Carley warned.

Talia nodded before she walked away from the reporter and towards the room. She couldn't help but think... was Lee still a good man? Or was it just a facade? She'd soon find out when she'd step through that door...


	2. No More Castles

Talia cautiously opened up the door and stepped inside. Lee was currently looking at something while Clementine sat atop what looked like a desk. Cautiously, she approached the taller and older man. "Lee?" she asked.

Lee turned around. "Hm?" he asked. Talia pulled him over to the side so Clementine wouldn't hear them. "I happen to have overheard your conversation with Carley." Talia whispered.

Lee's body tensed up from what Talia revealed. "So you know about me?" Lee asked.

"Yes, I do but... I don't think you're a bad man. You all thought I was mad when you first met me, but you sided with me nonetheless." Talia said. The older man crossed his arms. "I could see how scared you were." Lee told her.

"Yes, this world is quite bizarre as opposed to my home." Talia said.

"Can't imagine what you're going through." Lee said gently. Talia looked down. "Lee... if you're really who Carley said you are... are you still going to stay with us?"

Lee nodded. "Course I willl, Talia." he assured her. Talia sighed with relief. "Thank you... so, have you had any luck in getting this medicine for Larry?"

"No, not quite. We need to find the keys to the pharmacy, but I think I know where they are at." Lee said. "Doug and I looked outside amongst the walkers and we spotted one of them wearing medical scrubs. The nearest hospital is miles away. I think that the walker in the medical scrubs used to work here at the pharmacy."

"Medical scrubs? And what exactly is a 'pharmacy'?" Talia inquired curiously.

"Medical scrubs are something that certain doctors and nurses wear if they're on the job at a hosptial or doing surgery. And a pharmacy is a place where people go to get medicine." Lee replied.

"Back home, we have Maesters." Talia stated.

Lee rose an eyebrow. "Well, doctors nurses are kind of like Maesters." the man told her. "They usually send prescriptions to a pharmacy for people like Larry who have very advanced health problems."

"Maesters used traditional practices." Talia informed him. "Ironrath's Maester, Ortengryn, used the practices." She then wrinkled her nose remembering something. "Sometimes, he used maggots to clean out wounds... but I've never heard of doctors or nurses."

Lee was slightly disgusted by the information about the Maester. Maggots? Now that was just disgusting. However, he quickly snapped out of his thoughts. "Well, doctors and nurses use more advanced techniques and technology to keep people alive." he explained.

"Technology? What exactly do you mean by that?" Talia asked, curious as to what the word meant. "Technology is advanced mechanics. Basically, everything around us. Cars, remotes, televisions... they're basically a part of life here. They help us with a lot of things, but... I think we're going to lose the technology soon..." Lee trailed off.

"What do you mean, Lee?" the second daughter of Gregor Forrester asked.

"Those walkers out there are ruining everything around us. If this keeps up... there won't be any technology to use..."

"That's a shame." Talia muttered. She was hoping she could maybe see what this 'technology' could do. "So, what exactly do these cars and televisions do?"

"Like I told you earlier, Cars are houses on wheels that are used to take you places. Televisions are what people use for entertainment or to find out what's going on in the world."

"We use ravens to send letters." Talia remembered. "Well, again, technology has changed us. We have a variety of ways to send information to someone. We can use this thing called the internet which connects people around the world. We can also use devices called phones that can directly connect to someone if you dial the right amount of numbers. And we can also deliver mail, but it's distributed by cars." Lee kept explaining. "But I'm afraid that the system's falling since everything's going to hell out there. Let's just hope that the military can take care of this problem..."

"I have to admit, I'd find it rather exilerating to see some of your technology at work. I'm curious about how a television would supply entertainment. Is it a sort of toy or something?" Talia asked with a curious look in her eyes.

"It has things called cartoons and shows, which are animated characters on screen or live action characters that gives a story for everyone to enjoy." Lee explained.

"Back home, to hear stories, they were read from books or produced through a song." Talia remininced. "Well, the good news is that we still have books." Lee smiled.

"Oh, that's good. At least there's one normal thing that hasn't changed." Talia said as she breathed a sigh of relief. The teengager looked around the room, but her eyes widened seeing blood near a mattress on the floor. "Seven hells... what happened here...?" she asked, holding a hand to her mouth in horror. "I don't know." Lee answered with a frown. "I think maybe one of my parents were injured... probably my dad trying to play hero."

"Your parents lived here?" Talia asked curiously.

Lee shook his head. "Nah. They owned this place. This was their store. They're... gone..." he muttered sadly. "Oh... I'm sorry, Lee..." Talia told him with sympathy. "I... think the walker in the medical scrubs outside I told you about... is my brother..." Lee told her quietly.

Talia's eyes widened. He lost his whole family...?

"I think he was running to get help... but he got caught..." Lee trailed off. Seeing his undead brother pinned underneath that telephone pole was not a good sight for anyone to see...

"I'm sorry to hear that, Lee. I know that can't be easy." Talia said.

"It's alright, Talia." Lee told the teenager. "I guess keeping you and Clem safe are my top priority."

Speaking of Clementine, the little girl was sitting atop of a desk by a door. Talia walked over to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. "The keys are probably on the walker outside..." Lee told her. "But it's not safe enough to go out there. Besides, we don't have the combo to get the lock off the gate."

Talia turned to him and rose an eyebrow. "Combo? I know what a lock is, but why would you need a 'combo', whatever that is?"

"Combination key. It's used to keep it locked most of the time." Lee stated.

"We use keys to unlock doors." Talia rose an eyebrow. "Well, these locks can use keys, too, but we need to find the keys to unlock that door." Lee replied as they walked out of the back room with Clementine. "That walker out there might have them, but we'll need to find something to get the gate open."

Talia nodded. "Alright. I'll try to find something." she told him before she walked away to speak with Carley. However, Lee had happened to head over to Carley, too. "You know, you're a pretty good shot." he commented. Carley merely smirked. "Well, you don't fuck with a reporter. Especially one that's three days out from her last cup of coffee." she replied. Talia rose an eyebrow. What was coffee?

"You seem to handle yourself pretty well." Lee told her.

Carley scoffed. "Really? I'm a disaster." she muttered. Lee rose an eyebrow. "I can't tell." he shrugged. Carley shook her head. "My news editor was eaten about five feet away from me, and I would've joined her if it wasn't for that dorky guy by the window over there."

Talia glanced over at Doug, who was keeping watch by the window. He had saved Carley?

"I'm sorry..." Lee said with sympathy.

"She was an asshole, but, you know." Carley muttered. Lee glanced at Doug as well. "THAT guy saved you?" he inquired. Doug didn't look much, which surprised him because of what Carley just told him. "Yeah, can you believe it? Those creeps, or ghouls, or whatever the hell those things are were pulling our van apart and that guy, Doug, just came to the rescue!" Carley nodded.

Lee shrugged. "You can never tell who the heroic ones are going to be, I guess."

Talia decided to ask a question, feeling a bit left out. "How did you end up with these people, Carley?"

"We drove up to cover the Cherry Blossom Festival. Real hard hitting stuff." she replied. Talia then glanced at the box that Carley was tinkering around with. "What's that you're messing with?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"A radio. I can't get this thing to work, though." Carley replied, a bit frustrated she couldn't get it to work. "Let me take a look." Lee offered as he took the 'radio' and examined it. Talia looked at it as well, mesmerized by the strange design. As Lee flipped it over, Talia saw what appeared to be a latch. Lee opened it, revealing it was empty. "There are no batteries in this thing." he noted.

Carley was surprised. "What, now?"

Lee set the device down and looked at her raising an eyebrow. "You do know there are no batteries in that thing?" he questioned, trying to hide a smile. Carley chuckled nervously. "Yeah, of course I did. I mean, yeah..." She then shook her head. "No." she admitted. Lee reached into his pocket and handed her a set of small, round, cylinder shaped objects. "What are those?" Talia asked. "They're batteries. They help power some things around here." Lee explained before looking at Carley. "I found these earlier. Maybe they can help." he offered.

"Thanks." Carley said gratefully as she took the batteries and put them in the compartment. As she pressed the power button and tried turning up the volume, the radio still refused to work. Lee rose an eyebrow. "Still not working?" he asked. Carley shook her head. "I don't know what's up..." she replied. "Let me take a look again." the man offered as he took it. Talia saw him pull up what appeared to be a long, silver stick attached to the 'radio'. Nothing had happened, so he flipped it back over and opened the battery compartment again, revealing that the batteries in in backwards. Lee put them back in the right place and closed the compartment again before flipping it onto the front and pressing the button. Talia nearly jumped in surprise as the thing sparked to life and a voice came out of the box. "You fixed it!" Carley stated with surprise. "Who's inside this box?" Talia asked, wondering just where the voice was coming from.

"No one, Talia. Like I said, technology can broadcast our voices from far away." Lee told her as they listened. It was a man's voice that Carley appeared to recognize. But then, screams, booms, and crashes could be heard in the background. The man tried to say something, but Talia heard a hissing sound.

"Steve..." Carley muttered, worried for her friend. Lee looked at her with concern. "You okay? That radio signoff didn't sound good..."

"I'm fine." Carley said quickly, but Lee suspected it was a lie. "You don't have to be." he told her gently. "It's traumatic."

"I'm sure some people got out. Maybe they're all being rescued. Then again, maybe not..." Carley muttered. Talia heard another hissing sound. "Um... hello... this is Glenn... I'm kind of in a jam here. Little girl can you put your daddy on the phone or walkie-talkie." It was the young man's voice, but it was coming from the black box that Clementine was carrying around. Lee took the black box. "Lee here, what's up?"

"So... I was at that motor inn I mentioned and... well, I'm stuck." Talia could here the young man, who she presumed was Glenn, say. "Stuck?" Lee rose an eyebrow.

"Yeah... I had chance to get some extra supplies for the group and then I saw this girl. She kept saying that I was bit but I told her that I was fine and then these dead guys came in and got the jump on me." Glenn explained. "So... can you help me?"

Lee nodded. "Sit tight. We'll send some people to help."

"You want me to come?" Talia asked.

Lee looked to the girl and said, "No offense, but you're not exactly ready to take on the dead."

Talia looked at them. "But I want to help. I don't want to sit here being useless like back home." she insisted. "Talia, you're not ready. Lee and I can go handle it. The last thing that needs to happen is for you to get hurt or worse get bitten." Carley told her. Talia shook her head. She was being treated like she was back home. Let the 'capable' people handle it, they said. Stay home, they said. She was going to hear no more of it!

Carley huffed upon seeing the frustration in Talia features. She looked to Lee and asked, "How bad is it down there?"

"Glenn didn't say, but it doesn't sound too bad." Lee replied with a shrug.

Carley sighed and said, "Okay Talia, you can come, but you stick to me and Lee like glue, got it?"

Talia nodded. "Alright." she replied.

"Lilly, you keep looking after Larry. Kenny, you and Doug keep lookout. Clementine, stay here where it's safe. We'll be back soon." Lee told them. "Carley, Talia, and I are going to head out to get Glenn. The door out back's open and safe."

The group of three walked out the back door with Talia barely being able to keep up. She was amazed by all the different building and pieces of technology. Lee stopped and looked at a castle-like structure. "Shit, get down." Lee whispered to Carley. The three ducked behind a gate and Lee sighed. "I thought I had to keep an eye on Talia, but it seems I have to keep an eye on you too." Lee said.

"I can handle myself." Carley whispered. A few walkers walked by the alley before they slipped out of it together. "The motor inn Glenn told us about is down this way." Lee told them as they walked down the road that led out of town.

* * *

Talia stuck close to the two adults as they walked down the road with lights on poles lighting the way. After a while, the three approached another building, but it was different It had some kind of black stone which was similar to the stone that took up a huge portion of the walkway. There was also a huge car in the middle of it all. "What is that?" Talia whispered to the adults.

"That's the motor inn." Lee explained, but his eyes widened seeing a walker nearby and yanked them down. "Shit, hide!" he whispered. The trio stayed quiet as the walker stumbled over to the wall, but a few seconds later, it staggered away. Suddenly, they heard a loud thumping sound. Both adults got up and looked to a white structure with some kind of metal as the door. "Get ready to shoot." Lee whispered to Carley, who aimed her gun at the structure.

Talia poked her head out to see what was going on. The door opened... and Glenn stepped out of it. "Hey, guys!" he whispered with relief. Carley shook her head and lowered her gun. "God, Glenn!" she sighed.

He hopped over the wall and hid with them. "Well, that was rather easy." Talia commented. The mission didn't have to be exciting; she just wanted to get out of that pharmacy to stretch her legs.

"Whoa, wait, what's she doing here? It's too dangerous to bring a kid out here!" Glenn stated with shock and surprise in his eyes. "She insisted on coming." Lee admitted.

"I didn't want to sit there being useless." Talia told Glenn.

"Okay, we've got Glenn, so let's go." Carley whispered.

However, Glenn shook his head. "No. Not yet. There's a girl trapped up there." he informed them as he gestured to one of the second floor doors There were a couple of walkers pounding on the door, so something was definitely inside.

"What? No, we got to go now." Carley frowned.

"But we can't just leave her. It's not fair." Talia sided with Glenn. "Come on, I talked with her. She was nice, but them those things came and she ran to hide in there. She's scared." Glenn told them. "Carley, what if it was you in there?" Lee pointed out. "Okay, fine... let's go save Glenn's damsel in distress." Carley relented. "I'm glad for once that I'm not the one in distress." Talia muttered to herself before the trio hustled over to another wall and crouched behind it. Talia could hear the monstrosities snarling in the area. Carley held her gun close to her ready to shoot.

Lee glanced at them. "Okay, this is the plan." he whispered. "We don't know how hard it's going to be to get her outta there."

"Yeah, that room's boarded up." Glenn whispered back, nodding at the statement.

"So, we have to kill every one of those things in here."

Carley held up her gun and hit some kind of switch. "We have to kill these things quietly. Noise attracts them." Lee told them.

"Okay, then what do you suggest?" Carley asked.

"Let me take a look around." Lee whispered. He then poked his head around the corner of the wall and a second later, he grabbed what Talia recognized as a pillow. "Good luck smothering them to death." Carley commented sarcastically.

"That's not what I had in mind." Lee shook his head. He looked over to yet another bizarre looking car. Talia didn't understand why there were so many different cars. Did each one serve a specific purpose? "Come on, let's go to that RV." Lee told them. He crept over to the vehicle with Glenn, Carley, and Talia following him. Lee peered around the corner of the odd car, which Talia presumed was an 'RV'. "Not sure I can take both of them out myself, even if I had a weapon." he whispered.

"I know how to use a sword, but I don't exactly carry one around." Talia whispered to him. They quickly hustled back to the wall and ducked back down. However, the group of four quickly headed over to another oddly shaped 'car' and hid behind it for cover.

Lee looked around the area until he found a knife. He picked it up and turned to Talia. "Are you good with a knife?"

"A little... not as much as I am with a sword." Talia admitted.

"Alright, good enough." Lee shrugged before handing her the pocketknife. She held the pocketknife by the handle in her hand. It was much different than the ones back at home.

Lee got up and examined what appeared to be a window in the 'car'. "I think I found a pretty good way to stop these guys quietly." he whispered. "What'd you find?" Glenn asked. He peered into the car and smirked to Lee. "Nice find."

"How are we gonna get it, though?" Lee asked.

"... good point."

Lee then looked at a car with a walker slumped against it. "You know, I bet we could do somethin' with that car, if it weren't for that fellow lurking at the front there." he whispered. Talia noticed that this walker had more bones showing and looked more rotten than the ones she's seen so far. "He must have been a walker for a long time. "I can take him." Talia stated. This earned her a look from both Lee and Carley. "Are you crazy? You don't know how to take these things yet!" Carley whispered. Lee got the pillow ready. "I have a different idea. Get out your gun." he told Carley.

"But the noise-" Carley began, but Lee cut her off. "Just follow my lead. Stay right behind me, Carley."

The walker growled at Lee as he shoved the pillow into the walker's face, using it as a makeshift silencer. Carley placed her gun on the pillow and fired her gun. The pillow silenced it as blood splattered from the walker's head. The pillow was now rendered useless, but the walker was now completely dead.

"That was sick." Glenn whispered with enthusiasm in his voice and a wide grin forming on his face.

"What was sick about it?" Talia asked with confusion laced in her voice.

"It's an expression."

The group hid behind the car as Lee opened it and a moment later, he pulled something out from the seat.

"What do you make of this, Glenn?" Lee asked as he held up a metal object."That's a sparkplug." Glenn explained. "A what?" Talia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll tell ya what it is later."

The group hid behind the car as Lee pulled what appeared to be a lever in the car. Lee got out of the car and with Glenn's help, pushed it backwards. The car moved backwards slowly until it finally hit one of the stray walkers, pinning it against the wall.

"Sweet!" Glenn whispered before they headed back to the car they hid behind before. Lee got the 'sparkplug' out and was ready to throw it, but Glenn stopped him. "Wait. The porcelain inside these things turn car windows into tissue paper." Glenn whispered before he took it and stomped on it, handing him what was inside it. Lee then chucked it at the window and it shattered on impact.

He reached inside and pulled out a rather odd looking knife. The blade looked slender and the handle was in a weird shape. "That ought to scramble a few brains." Glenn commented.

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Lee nodded.

"What is that thing?" Talia asked. "Screwdriver. It's a type of tool. Looks like it's a weapon now." Lee answered as he held it by the handle in his hand before he led the way back to the front wall, then they returned to the bizzare looking car.

Lee pulled out the screwdriver and whistled, catching the attention of a walker on the side of the RV. Talia turned to him only for a brief second. She turned back and noticed that another walker was limping towards the group. She remembered that Carley killed the other walkers with a headshot earlier, so that must have been their weak point.

As Lee took out the walker by the RV, the other walker was almost upon her, Glenn and Carley. Talia whipped around and in one quick movement, she kicked the bag of the walker's leg. She remembered that Ser Royland taught her to bring her opponent to her level or lower for a quick kill. Talia was very glad that she had paid attention to his advice.

The undead corpse growled as it fell to the ground. Talia pulled out the pocket knife she had acquired from Lee earlier and stabbed the creature in the skull, shocking Lee, Carley, and Glenn. It worked! The walker was unresponsive and fell to the ground lifelessly with Talia's knife still in its skull.

Her eyes widened with shock at what she had done. She... she had killed the creature...

"Talia..." Carley whispered with shock as the teenager quivered. She slowly stumbled back, but Lee caught her. She had small, dark specks of blood from the walker on the front of her dress.

"I... I killed it..." she gasped out shakily. She felt sick to her stomach.

"It's okay, Talia. You're okay." Carley said as she tried to comfort the girl.

"I... don't feel good." Talia admitted. The smell reached her nose and Talia gagged, holding her stomach. She never knew it would be like this... she felt awful. "Okay, come on. Let's get out of here." Carley told her as she helped the girl up. "Lee, finish up here." Carley turned to Talia and said, "Come on you need fresh air."

Lee yanked Talia's knife out of the walker before he looked over at the walker trapped by the car from earlier. "You'll need to stick close to me."

The four cautiously approached the walker, which groaned as it tried to reach for its possible next meal. However, Lee jammed the screwdriver into the walker's head, effectively killing it, but losing a weapon.

"Dude, where'd your weapon go?" Glenn asked. "Into that ice pick sized hole." Lee explained, gesturing to the walker.

"Oh, sick... no worries. Now you got this." Glenn commented as he gestured to an axe. "Are you two done?" Carley asked a bit impatiently as she was helping Talia. The reporter was getting a bit nervous now, with all those things still around.

Lee took the ax out of its case. "Never saw an ax like that before..." Talia commented, still holding her stomach.

"That's because it's a more modern type of ax." Lee whispered before glancing up at the balcony of the building. "Two more left..."

The four crouched down and cautiously approached what Talia thought to be a staircase. "How about you three sit back while I take out the last two walkers." Lee said.

"Hey man, you got an axe. What could possibly go wrong?" Glenn asked. "Are you sure you're going to be alright, Lee?" Talia asked the older man.

"Yeah... it doesn't look too bad up there." He turned toward the stairs and slowly made his way up. Talia couldn't help but be worried for him.

"Hey, don't worry. I bet he'll be fine." Carley assured her.

"I hope so. I never met a man like him before." Talia stated. The trio crept up the stairs and watched as he took out a walker with the ax before beheading the last one. Talia was shocked at the display.

"Rad." Glenn smiled, impressed by this feat.

Lee waited at the door of the room while Glenn, Carley, and Talia approached him. "Hello, in there!" Lee called as he knocked on the door. "We're here to help."

"Please just go away!" A woman's voice shouted from behind the door. "Let's go, guys." Carley sighed as she kept a lookout.

"In a minute." Lee insisted. "If you open up, we can take you some place safer. We've got a group in town."

"No, no, no! Please, no!" the woman sobbed. Glenn's eyes widened. "She's in trouble!"

"We should help." Talia told them. "Miss, back away from the door." Lee warned as he raised the axe up and cut the board that was covering the door in half. He went to turn the door knob, but it was no use. He kicked the door in a brazen attempt to get inside.

"Stop! Just stop!" the woman exclaimed. "I'm coming out now." Her voice sounded different. It sounded as if she was defeated.

The woman unlocked the door and slowly stepped out, revealing her shirt was stained with blood as she held her side. Lee's eyes widened. "You're hurt..."

"Oh god..." Carley muttered with surprise, knowing what the possible cause could be. Talia was horrified by the injury and held a hand to her mouth. She could see the wound looked like teeth marks... like a bite...

"I-I said stay away..." the woman whimpered. "We need to get you help!" Glenn insisted with worry for the woman clearly evident etched on his face.

"Yes, Glenn's right. We can clean the wound at the pharmacy, can we?" Talia asked.

"Talia... we haven't told you this, but if you get bit, you'll become a walker in a matter of hours if not taken care of..." Lee warned her. Talia's eyes widened with horror. "What?!" she gasped. If she got bitten... she would become those creatures too?!

"I told you, I said go away! I'm bit! But you wouldn't just leave me..." the woman whimpered.

"Let's calm down, ma'am. You could be fine." Lee told her calmly in an attempt to calm her down, but she shook her head. "I won't be fine. My boyfriend was bit. I'm bit. You turn and you kill anything that you can find!" the woman exclaimed with the look of fear clearly evident in her eyes.

"You have a boyfriend?" Glenn asked with a hint of sadness as his shoulders slumped. "GLENN." Carley hissed through clenched teeth. This was not the time for this kind of stuff!

However, the woman kept panicking. "I don't want that! It's not Christian! Please, just leave me! Please, go!"

Lee just shook his head. "We can help you. Come with us."

"There is nothing you can do! All I will do is endanger the lives of your people!" The woman shook her head. Her gaze shifted to Carley and her eyes lit up. "You have a gun."

"So...?" Carley asked cautiously.

"C-Can I borrow it?" The woman requested. Carley rose an eyebrow and took a cautious step back. "What do you mean by 'borrow'?"

"Give it to me... I can just, you know... end this, and then there's no problem..." the woman pleaded as she slowly approached her. Lee shook his head. "Whoa, whoa, whoa..."

Talia's eyes widened. Was this woman considering suicide?!

"You can't be serious." Talia gasped with horror lacing her voice.

"I am very serious! I will not become one of them! They're satanic!" the woman exclaimed. She turned to Carley and approached her with her eyes set on the gun. "I just need one bullet, two seconds, a-and then I can... I can be with my family."

"Miss..." Lee tried in an attempt to stop her.

"Back up!" Carley ordered as she got closer to the edge. "PLEASE!" the woman wailed desperately as she lunged at Carley and attempted to wrestle the gun out of her hand. Talia, Glenn, and Lee rushed to try and stop them. Talia could feel the balcony they were on shaking and she could hear a crack. "Miss, you need to think this through!" Lee tried. Then, the balcony collapsed below them, sending them tumbling towards the ground. They all screamed with surprise before they hit the pavement. Talia grunted with pain as she could feel her elbow get scraped upon the impact.

She slowly sat up as Carley searched for her gun. The group's eyes widened realizing it was near the woman. The woman picked up the gun as Lee gasped, "Whoa, take it easy. We're just hear to help."

"You can't." The woman stated sadly as she aimed the gun at the side of her head. Talia's eyes widened in horror. She really was considering suicide!

"Miss, just relax now... We can get you help. You just need to-" The woman's finger got closer to the trigger and Lee rushed to try and stop her, yelling, "No, no, no, no! NO!"

However, he was too late. The woman pulled her trigger and Talia was shocked at what had happened next. A loud boom could be heard throughout the air as blood spurted from where the woman shot herself, a gaping hole evident on the side of her head. The woman collapsed dead on the ground. Talia clutched her elbow as she stared at the fresh corpse with horror as blood poured onto the ground by the dead woman's head. "By the gods..." she muttered.

Carley, Lee, and Glenn were just as shocked. Glenn shakily picked up the gun and looked at it for a moment, before he threw up on the ground. Talia wrinkled her noise with disgust at the sight as Carley checked on her. "You okay?" she asked her.

The young Forrester pulled her hand away from her elbow, revealing her dress was torn at that part, revealing her scraped skin. "No." she winced. How could she be alright after seeing a woman kill herself right in front of her?!

"Don't worry. We'll clean up the wound when we get back." Carley offered.

"...Thank you." Talia winced.

Suddenly, several walkers limped toward the four. They must have heard the gunshot!"Come on, we got to go!" Lee exclaimed. The four ran for Glenn's car as fast as they could. Carley opened the door and ushered Talia in. Talia didn't question this and got right in. Lee shut the door as soon as all four of them were in. "Glenn, go!"

Glenn nodded, stepping on the gas pedal and the young man sped off into the night.

* * *

It was silent on the way back to the pharmacy. It was a horrifying scene to watch the woman commit suicide. Talia had never met someone who was depressed enough to commit suicide, but she understood that this new world brought horrible thoughts in the minds of desperate people. It was apparent that woman lost her will to live long before she was bit.

She looked out the window watching as the car took them quickly down the road. It was quicker than a horse or a boat, that's for sure. Talia then winced as her scraped elbow acted up. She landed on it pretty hard...

However, Talia couldn't help but think... what if she had done the same thing after Ethan died...? What if she had lost the will to live?

Ethan was the closest person in her life. Not even mother and father was as close or Ryon. Ethan was there since the minute she was born. He grew up with her, learned with her, played with her, and loved her like a brother would. She and her brother shared a special connection with one another. This connection could not be replicated in any shape or form. And when he died, half of her died with him... she would never have that connection again... but suicide was not the answer. For her twin, she would live out her life... no matter how brutal it got.

"Talia...? Are you okay?" Lee asked the Forrester, seeing her in deep thought. Talia looked from the window and gave a sad look to Lee indicating that she wasn't. "I... It's that woman back there..."

"Talia, I know that was brutal... we all worked hard to try and save her, but some people are just not savable." Lee said gently in an attempt to comfort the teenager.

Talia lowered her head and admitted quietly, "I... thought about ending it too... after Ethan died. You don't know what it's like having a twin... it's different from having a sibling. A twin is like your other half... no matter what he's always there. When Ethan died... half of me died with him. We were always together... From the day we were born, we did everything by each other's side... now we can never do anything together ever again... he... he would play the lute when I sang... We would look after Ryon along with mother... we practically raised him... and when Ironrath needed someone to step up... we were there. I couldn't do much because of my gender, but I would always try to keep him on course... to not become like Asher."

"Talia..." Lee said with a worried frown on his face.

"I don't think that way anymore. I just... can't stop thinking about him." Talia muttered. "I just want to see his face alive again more than anything..." Talia whispered as she glanced back out the window to try and hide a tear welling up in her eye. After a moment, she found herself humming the tune of the song her mother wanted her to sing at the funeral... but she never got the chance to finish writing it.

The driver and two passengers listened and were astonished. Her humming had quite a rhythm and it didn't miss a beat. Carley was sure that Talia's singing voice was even better.

A few minutes later, they had finally reached the drugstore and Talia's humming stopped. It had been a long night and unfortunately, it wasn't even _close_ to being over. The four exited the vehicle and headed inside the pharmacy.

* * *

Kenny was the first to greet them when they returned. "Everyone alright?" he inquired when he saw their expressions.

"Yeah... we had some close calls. Talia scraped her elbow when we fell on the pavement. Glenn is fine, and... well, we're okay." Lee replied. "Talia needs her arm treated."

"I've got a few cans of gas for your pickup in the trunk of my car..." Glenn muttered sullenly. Kenny nodded to the young man as he walked over to some kind of large device attached to the wall. "C'mon, Talia. I think Kat can look at you." Kenny suggested. Talia held her elbow as she followed Kenny, weaving her way past the shelves over to the kind woman. "Hey, Kat. The kid scraped her elbow pretty bad out there." Kenny told his wife.

"Oh dear... let me take a look..."

Talia nodded and showed the kind woman her scrape. "Well, it's not the worst I've ever seen, but you'll definitely need it cleaned up. Come on." Katjaa told her as she led Talia to the office that Lee was in earlier. Katjaa went to the first-aid kit and pulled out some bandages and a bottle.

"What is in that bottle?" Talia asked, not liking the looks of the bottle. "It's an anti-septic. It helps clean out a wound so it won't get infected. It may sting at first, so... prepare yoursellf." Katjaa warned as she dabbed a cotton ball with the liquid.

"Prepare for wha-?" Talia began, but she yelled in pain as Katjaa placed the cotton ball on her wound. Talia could feel as if her elbow was being put through a fire! "OUCH!" she cried out.

"Hold still." Katjaa told her. "I'm almost done." She applied the cotton ball to the rest of her arm as the pain persisted. Afterwards, Katjaa wrapped her arm with the bandages and made sure they were in place. "There, finished."

Talia winced. "That hurt..." she managed to say. "It will for a while, Talia, but it helps disinfect the wound." Katjaa assured her. "Hm... your dress got torn right there... we'll have to find you some new clothes soon... come on, dear."

Katjaa and Talia headed back into the pharmacy. Talia nursed her still throbbing elbow, but she noticed that Doug and Lee were missing. "Where are Lee and Doug?" she asked.

"They went out front to try and find the keys to the pharmacy." Kenny explained. "Will they be alright?" Talia asked, worried for the wellbeing of the two men.

Suddenly, the two men ran in from outside. They were both huffing with Doug panting, "Man, that was close."

"Yeah, but we did it." Lee muttered. Talia could see a slightly sad look on his face. All group members looked to the dark skinned man. "I got them." Lee announced as he held the set of keys for everyone to see. "Great! God, you're amazing." Lilly sighed with relief as she stood up. "Let's get in there."

Talia watched as Lee and Lilly headed to the back room. "Are they going to get the medicine?" she wondered.

"Yeah. Larry should be fine now." Carley replied. Suddenly, Talia heard a loud ringing echo throughout the building. She covered her ears, cringing. "What is that awful noise?!"

"Oh shit, that's the alarm!" Carley exclaimed.

The group went into a panic as the crunching sound from earlier could be heard. It was the walkers... they were trying to get in! Lee and Lilly returned to the store with the woman helping her father and Lee running over to check Clementine. Carley was putting something in her gun and it went into the handle. Talia looked around the chaos nevously. She didn't know what to do!

"Duck, c'mon, baby. Time to go." Katjaa told Duck hurriedly as she helped him down.

"I'm gonna get the truck pulled up round back!" Kenny called.

"Do it fast. I've got to get my dad out of here!" Lilly said as she helped up her father, who was looking much better now that he got his pills. "I don't plan on dilly-dallyin'!" Kenny exclaimed. He turned to Katjaa and said, "Kat, take Duck into the office and barricade the living hell out of the door behind me." He turned his gaze to Glenn and ordered, "Glenn, when you hear me honking in the alley, you start getting people out of here."

"You got it!" Glenn nodded.

"Doug, Carley, and Lee, you guys make sure our defenses stay up till then!"

"What do I do?!" Talia asked.

"You stay here and keep an eye on Clem. Protect her like you protected Ryon!" Kenny ordered.

There was a sudden loud creaking noise. "What was that?!" Talia asked.

"Guys, that gate's not locked anymore." Doug informed them nervously. "Shit! You three get on it. I'll be back as soon as I can!" Kenny exclaimed. He left for the back room with Duck and Katjaa close behind him.

"Stay away from the windows!" Lee told Clementine as the banging started to rise in volume.

"Glenn, we need your help! Please, hurry!" Katjaa called from the back room. Lee rushed to take Glenn's place as Glenn rushed to the back room. Talia was getting more and more afraid by the second. The defenses the building had was falling apart. It was amazing how much strength the walkers had. "Hey, Lee... if we don't make it through this... you should know... I think you're a great guy." Doug told the man as the three struggled to keep the door shut.

"We WILL make it through this!" Lee insisted.

"Doug, if we don't make it through this, you should know-" Carley began, but was cut off as the walkers shoved the door open, but the trio quickly closed it.

"I should know what?" Doug asked, not hearing what she said. Suddenly, the shelf next to the three collapsed and the walkers started pouring inside.

"I got it!" Carley exclaimed as she drew her handgun. "Are you sure?" Lee inquired, straining to keep the walkers out. "Oh shit!" Carley gasped as she shot two of the walkers which were coming close to Doug.

"What? Oh shit!" Lee exclaimed when he saw how close they were. That was a close one! Carley went to go shoot the walkers coming in. "Clementine, can you find anything to stick in between the handles?! Something real strong, okay?!" Lee requested.

Clementine nodded. "Okay!" she agreed before she ran off. Talia ran after the eight year old since she was tasked to keep her safe. "What do you think will fit between the handles?" Clementine asked as she looked under the counter hurriedly. She searched around before she found a cane lying by the desk. "Maybe this!" she said as she took it.

The two girls rushed back to the pharmacy finding that Lee was the only one holding the door shut now. Doug was currently trying to bar the window as Carley shot at the walkers slowly coming in. "Here!" Talia rushed to Lee and handed him the cane. Lee quickly took it and stuck it in between the handle bars to act as a barricade, stepping away from the door cautiously.

"AGH! Get them off me!" Talia heard Doug exclaim. She looked over to see that walkers were trying to pull him through the window.

"SHIT! I'm out! I'M OUT! My ammo... it's in my purse!" Carley exclaimed as she clawed the air, reaching for the bag like object as a walker held onto her ankle she was desperately trying to shake off.

"HELP ME!" Doug pleaded as he struggled to get free from the window.

"Lee! Talia! Help!" Carley pleaded. Talia looked back and forth in horror. Who should they help?! They were in a horribe situation right now, and they had so little time before walkers poured in!

Talia glanced at Carley, the woman who saved her life, and Doug, a man she did not know much about. She took a deep breath before she and Lee went to help Carley.

Talia grabbed the purse and tossed it to Lee, who pulled the ammo out, tossing it to Carley.

Carley grabbed it and immediately reloaded before promptly shooting the walker coming at her and the walker grabbing her ankle, killing them both effectively. "Oh no! GET 'EM OFF ME! Help me! HELP ME! NO!" Talia and Lee heard from Doug. They ran over to try and help him, but they were too late. Doug was dragged out of the pharamacy by the walkers.

Talia gasped and stared in horror as the walkers pulled him out and began to tear into him ravenously. "AAAAHHHH!" he cried out painfully as they tore into his stomach, ripping out his intestines. Clementine screamed in horror at the sight and looked away. Carley held a hand to her mouth, feeling sick to her stomach. "Oh my god..." she whispered in shock before shooting a couple walkers.

Suddenly, the door busted open with Kenny at the doorway. "Let's go!" he roared as Larry appeared behind him.

"They got Doug..." Carley muttered as she ran over to join Kenny and Larry. "They... they..."

"It doesn't matter. You've gotta move!" Larry told her callously as he stood by the door.

Clementine was caught by a walker. "AAAH!" she screamed. Lee and Talia reacted quickly and stomped on the walker. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" Each stomp weakened its grip until it let go completely. "RUN!" Lee told her.

Clementine ran towards the door with Lee and Talia following, but when Clementine got through the door, Larry stopped the man and teenager with a glare. "You're not coming with us, you sons of bitches!" Larry growled as he punched both Lee and Talia to the ground with one well aimed swing. Lee took the brunt of the hit while Talia was just sent to the floor with a stunned expression. It did hurt quite a bit but it was somewhat manageable. Her cheek did hurt from the hit.

"NO!" Clementine gasped as she was ushered out by Larry.

Talia hissed with pain as she opened her eyes trying to get up. She could see Kenny coming at them with the ax raised. However, he hit a walker in the head right next to them that was about to attack the two, saving their lives. "I'm not letting anyone else get eaten today!" Kenny exclaimed as he extended his hand, helping the two up and through the doorway. "Especially a good friend and a kid." he added. As soon as Talia was through, Lee glanced behind them to see the many walkers pouring into the pharmacy in search for a new meal. Lee slammed the door shut behind them to buy them time. "Come on, move it!" Lilly ushered as Glenn had his car ready, as well as Kenny with his truck. Lee, Clementine, and Talia got into the car with Glenn while Larry, Carley, Katjaa, Duck, and Lilly rode in the truck with Kenny. "Step on it!" Carley exclaimed frantically. Glenn and Kenny put the pedal to the metal as they slammed their foots down on the accelerators and sped out of the alley.

Talia glanced out the back window, watching the many walkers still approaching the drugstore as they sped out of town. She couldn't get rid of the fear she had felt while in there. She had a close brush with death there... and she was sure that this wouldn't be the last time.

* * *

The group had made their way to the motor inn with each member doing something. Talia and Lee were both looking out into the road way. There were a series of screams and booms in the distance. It must have been people who were shooting at walkers, but they were so far away that Talia couldn't make out anything. When the screams stopped, Talia couldn't help but feel a bit worried.

When they reached the motor inn after escaping the pharmacy, Lee, Glenn, Carley, and Talia noticed that the walkers were gone, leaving only the bodies of the walkers from earlier and the body of the young woman. Lilly had finished putting the bodies in a pile away from them and looked at her hands with disgust before wiping them on her jeans to get the grime and dirt off.

Both Lee and Talia noticed Clementine. She seemed rather sad and half-listening to Duck who was busy talking to her. The boy was oblivious to how the girl felt.

Kenny was talking to his wife over by their truck. Talia saw Glenn was currently listening to voices that came out of his car. Carley was rummaging through a box with a distant look on her face while Larry leaned against a pillar glaring at Talia and Lee from a distance. Talia frowned at the man. If Larry was in Westeros, he'd surely be thrown in the dungeons of Ironrath for hitting a girl, let alone the daughter of a lord.

"Hey Glenn." Lee greeted as he approached the young man.

He waved his hand in a gesture to stop talking and made the voices in his car even louder. _"The following cities and the stage of disaster that they are at is as follows: Atlanta, stage nine catastrophe, Augusta..."_

Glenn turned the volume down and sighed, "I think I need to go."

Talia's eyes widened. "Why? It's dangerous out there!" she protested.

"I have friends in Atlanta. I just can't stay here knowing they could be trapped in that." Glenn told her. Talia had noticed Lilly had walked closer to listen to the coversation. "It sounds like nobody knows what's happening there." Lee observed. "When we left a few days ago, it coulda gone either way."

"I got to take my chances." Glenn told him. He looked to Talia and asked, "If you had the chance to save your brother Ryon from those Whitehill guys, would you take it... even if it meant risking your own life?"

Talia was surprised by that question. "Of course I would! Iron from Ice." This earned her a look of confusion from the two older men. "It's our House's motto." she explained.

Lilly looked at Lee with an eyebrow raised, but Lee waved his hand, signaling her to let him handle this. "Then you understand why I have to do this. My friends are like my family... especially since everyone in my family is probably gone." Glenn muttered.

"We understand." Lee nodded. "Go save your friends."

"Be safe..." Talia told Glenn.

"You guys, too." Glenn said.

Lee nodded. "We'll try."

"I don't want to leave you guys like this, but you guys do have a pretty good setup." Glenn said with a smile before he shook Lee's hand. "Take care." He entered the car and started to leave the motor inn.

"I hope he'll be okay." Talia muttered as they watched him drive off into the night. She looked to Lee with a questioning stare and asked, "What are 'cities' and are they dangerous?"

"Cities are very big towns with lots of buildings and people." Lee answered. "They have lots of jobs, traffic, sewers, cars..."

"So, because of the walkers... they're dangerous, right?" Talia asked. "Yes, because they could easily catch a lot of people there..." Lee told her seriously.

Talia glanced at where Glenn had drove off to. "I just hope he'll be alright..."

"He will... he's a crafty kid... If anyone's got a chance to survive in the city, it's him." Lee reassured her. He then turned to Kajtaa and Kenny and approached the two. Katjaa appeared to be talking to Kenny about something as he was searching through his truck.

"Hey, Ken." Lee greeted, getting his attention.

"Close call back there..."

"Thanks for picking us up." Lee said as he shook hands with the older man.

"No problem." Kenny smiled.

"Thank you, Kenny. I wish I could repay you for your bravery, but I don't exactly have anything worth value." Talia stated. "You don't need to pay me." Kenny told her.

"Well, the least I can do is thank you. I would have died back there if it wasn't for you." Talia thanked.

"No problem." Kenny chuckled. He turned to Lee and said, "You know I did say before that a world like this can ruin a precious little girl like Clem, but after what I saw today... between you and Talia looking out for her and her looking out for herself, I say she's going to be fine."

"Thanks, Kenny." Lee smiled. Kenny nodded and went back to the truck. "You got it."

The duo then headed over to Carley. "Hey, Carley." Lee greeted the reporter. "Hey..." Carley muttered with a saddened look on her face. "I know it may seem stupid, but I think I liked Doug... he saved my life when all of this happened."

"We couldn't have saved him, could we?" Carley asked. Lee shook his head. "I don't think so. It happened pretty fast."

"Well, I guess that seems fair... I think I just want to be left alone for a while." Carley sighed.

"Okay, Carley. We understand." Lee told her sympathetically as he and Talia started to walk away. "Wait..." Carley stopped them. "Back there... why did you save me?"

"We were trying to save both of you." Lee explained. "But you chose me first..." Carley pointed out. Lee nodded. "Yeah, I did..." he muttered before he and Talia resumed walking away. However, Talia stopped and looked back at the woman with concern. She didn't know if Carley was feeling depressed by her connection with Doug like she did with Ethan.

Talia then caught up to Lee, who had walked over to Duck and Clementine. Duck was yammering Clementine's ear off about something Talia had absolutely no clue about.

"Uh, Duck, do you want to cool it for a second?" Lee requested.  
"Okay, sorry." Duck apologized. Talia found it strange how the boy acted. He was always into something or talking. Ryon was the opposite. He was always looking for someone to play with him, and if he couldn't, he'd play with his toy soldiers or he tried to make a new one. Plus, Ryon was not quite as social as the overactive boy.

"I'm sorry there's not many kids here." Lee said to Clementine. He was crouched down in front of the girl as she kept her stare at the ground. "At the store, I got grabbed again... I fell on my walkie... it's broken. Glenn has the other one." Clementine told them sadly. "Aww... I'm sorry." Lee told her with sympathy in his eyes.

"I know it doesn't make any sense, but it used to be the way that I would talk to my mom and dad, and now it's gone... They're gone." Clementine said as her voice started to crack. "Maybe we can find you another one." Lee suggested.

"I'll just keep this one, I guess..." Clementine muttered. "Lee, Talia, get over here." Larry ordered.

"We'll be right back." Lee sighed. He and Talia walked over to the aggressive man who nearly ended their lives an hour earlier. Talia glared at the old man. "What do you want?" Lee asked with a glare aimed at the man as well.

"You... like my daughter?"

Lee shrugged. "Well, her dad just tried to kill me and a kid, but she's okay."

"That's because her dad knows that Lee Everett is a killer, and so will everyone else if you get anywhere near her." Larry threatened. He turned his head to Talia and growled, "And as for you... a crazy looney like you isn't wanted in my group."

" _Your_ group? You aren't even qualified to be a leader." Talia frowned up at him. This man had no qualities for a leader, just like Ludd.

"What was that?" Larry growled as he took a step towards her.

"If I were you, I'd back off from Talia." Lee warned Larry. Larry glared at the two and sneered, "I don't give a shit about what happens to either of you, but if anything happens my daughter or that little girl... you watch your asses." Larry then walked away from the two.

"He believes that he is in control or something?" Talia asked with a scowl. Lee scowled at Larry's back. "Apparently. My advice would be to stay away from him, Talia. He _did_ try to kill both of us back at the pharmacy." he told the teenager.

"Hey, Lee, do you have a second?" Lilly asked. The two glanced back at Larry, who was leaning against a truck scowling at them with his arms crossed. "My dad would be dead if it weren't for you."

Lee shook his head. "That guy, Doug, is dead because of me..."

"You can't think that way; you're only one guy." Lilly shook her head. "I don't know." Lee muttered. "We're lucky to have you, Lee." Talia told him. Lee smiled at her statement. His smile fell when they heard more booms in the distance. "I hope that's the sound of us winning this thing." Kenny hoped as he walked over to the three. "Me too..." Lilly nodded.

"This motor inn's pretty damn defendable. We block off the entrances with some cars and keep someone on watch, we could stay here till the military rolls through." Kenny suggested. "I actually agree with that plan." Lilly agreed. "Um... military... what exactly is that? Is it an army or something?" Talia questioned with curiosity. "Yes. Talia, our military doesn't use swords or crossbows, if your kind of armies use those. They used guns, knives, and things called tanks." Lee explained.

"What is a tank?" Talia asked.

"It's a huge vehicle that is well protected. It's almost impervious to damage. It also has a huge barrel that can shoot out ammo that can destroy buildings." Lee answered. "Very dangerous if in the wrong hands." he added.

The four walked to the entrance of the motel. "We've got beds, we've got water, and most importantly, we've got light. There are worse places to call home." Kenny shrugged as he placed his hands on his hips.

Lilly nodded. "Yeah, you're right. You know what, guys? I think it's going to be okay."

Suddenly, one-by-one the street lights started to shut off until the motor inn was now completely dark. It made Talia flinch. She hated being in the dark, especially with the walkers roaming through it. There were the sounds of a pitter patter behind them which made her stiffen up, but she relaxed upon hearing Clementine's voice. "Lee? Where are you?"

"Right here, sweet pea." Lee calmed her down. Clementine sighed with relief as she ran over to Lee. "Great. I jinxed it, didn't I?" Lilly sighed as she glanced around the now dark area. "Do we have candles to help us see?" Talia inquired. "Better yet, we have flashlights." Carley replied as Talia could hear footsteps approaching from behind her. "Flash-lights?" Talia asked with confusion. She heard a click and turned around just in time to get some light shined in her face. She squinted and shielded her eyes from the light as it lowered, revealing Carley was holding some sort of stick. "A light stick?" Talia inquired.

"Flashlight." Carley corrected. "They help us see in the dark at times."

"And they require batteries." Talia could see Lee aiming a smirk at Carley. "Yes, they require batteries, and as we saw back at the pharmacy, Carley has a hard time using those." Lee chuckled with a mocking tone in his voice. Carley rolled her eyes. "Okay, that's enough." she said as she shined the flashlight in his face on purpose. Lee squinted and shielded his eyes.

"We should find a room to sleep in." Katjaa suggested. "Yeah. Enough rooms for all of us and more here." Lilly nodded. "We need to make sure no other walkers are in these rooms, though."

Talia went with Carley towards a room. "It'll be easier once it's daylight to check the other rooms. For now, find a room, clear it, and sleep in it." Kenny said. "You think someone should take watch?" Lee asked, raising an eyebrow. He didn't exactly feel comfortable with no one keeping a lookout. "Nah, I bet every walker in the area is drawn to the pharmacy for the moment." Kenny shook his head. "It's been a rough day. All of us should get some rest. We can check the other rooms tomorrow, block off the entrances, and do some repairs." Lilly suggested as she looked at the broken balcony by the one room on the second floor.

Carley cautiously opened a door with Talia behind her. With door now open, Carley looked around with the flashlight and the gun aiming in all parts of the room. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the teenager behind her. "There's nothing in here." Carley told her.

"That's good." Talia sighed. "I have to say, that light stick is an improvement compared to candles."

Just for good measure, Carley checked underneath the bed for any walkers, but thankfully found none. "You can sleep here tonight. We can find you some new clothes possibly tomorrow, since your dress is unfit for running and it's... kinda ruined." she said as she gestured to the tear and the blood splatter on Talia's dress. "I'll teach you to shoot soon."

"That might be for the best." Talia muttered. She was nervous. She had never worn trousers before or shot a gun. From what Carley described, the gun sounded like a weapon that would do more damage to her than whatever she was using it against. As for the trousers, she's always worn a dress, it would feel weird wearing anything else. "You seem nervous." Carley observed.

"Y-Yes. About the guns... the clothes..." Talia stammered. "Hey, don't worry. It's going to feel strange for both areas, but I think you'll like it. You've already showed some interest in the technology and customs that we have." Carley tried to reassure the girl.

"My mother always taught me to act like a lady..."

"And you didn't tell her that you were taking sword lessons, were you?"

"No..." Talia admitted. "I thought it would be best... my older sister, Mira, took sword training as well. She wasn't sure what kind of trouble she could end up in at King's Landing. I figured with everything going on that I would do the same. I knew Mother wouldn't approve, but I went to Ser Royland for training anyway..."

"Well, tomorrow shouldn't be any different. I'll be there to help you shoot. You won't be on your own. Who knows you might actually be a natural shot." Carley told her. "For now, get some sleep."

Talia nodded and headed over to the bed in the room as Carley stepped outside and closed the door behind her. She was exhausted from today's events, so she laid down on the bed and received a shocking surprise by how comfortable it was. The beds at Ironrath were nowhere near as high quality as the bed she was laying down on. Sleep came almost immediately and without a second thought from Talia, she began to drift off to sleep, thinking about her family before exhaustion consumed her.


	3. Adapting to a New Life

**Sorry for the long wait. Had several doctor appointments to go to and had some writer's block. But I'm back on this story with Q.**

* * *

It was morning now, it wasn't a normal morning for the new group anymore. Carley had woken up and was heading to Talia's room.

The young girl was still sleeping. The bed was much more comfortable than anything she had ever slept on. Carley entered the room and saw the girl still asleep.

"Talia?" Carley called. Talia didn't reply. The reporter, or now former reporter, sighed as she walked over to the teenager and tried to wake her up. "Talia, time to get up." she said as she gently shook her shoulder.

"Not now, Mother..." Talia muttered in her sleep. Carley chuckled and said, "I don't think we're quite there yet, Talia. It's me, Carley." The girl's eyes opened and she was shocked to see Carley next to her.

"C-Carley?" Talia gasped. She looked around, seeing that she was indeed still in the hotel room. All of it wasn't a dream! This was very real.

"Hey, you alright?" Carley inquired.

"I...I... yes, I just... thought this world was just some sort of dream." Talia said. "I dreamt I was back at home... with Ethan... Mira... Mother... Ryon... Rodrik... Father..." she muttered. "Before Father and Rodrik went off to war, before Mira went to King's Landing... and before Ramsay Snow came to Ironrath."

Carley looked to the girl with sympathetic eyes and stated, "I'm sorry, but as you can see, you're still here with us."

Talia nodded silently in response. She wasn't upset being with the survivors, but she was saddened that she was still not home.

"It's time to get up." Carley told the Forrester. "Remember, I said I'd help you find some new clothes and teach you to shoot."

Talia got off her bed and yawned a bit, following Carley out the door to see the other survivors already awake and moving. Larry was busy doing repairs to the balcony by the door the young woman used to reside in. Talia tried to forget about the horrid memory of the woman and walked over to see the other survivors enjoying some form breakfast. Talia could feel her own stomach growl from the lack of food. She hadn't ate anything since lunch time yesterday. She had went on her walk a little while afterwards. Then she found herself here, in this strange new world.

Clementine glanced at her. "Talia's awake!" she announced with a smile.

Lee looked over at the teenager. "Heya, Talia. See you're finally awake." he smiled.

"Good morning, everyone." she yawned as her stomach growled again. Lee offered her some sort of food. "You hungry?" he asked.

She looked down to the food and wasn't sure what it was. There were some yellow pieces of food on one side and some brown thin pieces of food on another. "I'm not quite sure what this is." Talia said with a questioning stare. Nonetheless, she accepted the plate. "It smells wonderful for whatever it is."

"Scrambled eggs and bacon." Carley explained as she took a seat. "We were able to find them earlier today. Good thing there are some pans around here."

Talia took a bite and was surprised by how good it tasted, so, she took another bite, then another, then another. "Whoa, whoa, easy." Carley said as she stopped the girl. "Don't choke."

"I'm sorry. I just never had anything this good before." Talia replied. "I mean, we did have eggs where I came from, but never like this."

"Well, I'd hate to break it to ya, but we're gonna have to start rationing our food supplies when we get them." Lilly said as she swallowed her food.

"The residents of Ironrath did that." Talia remembered. "Because of the war you were talking about?" Lee asked.

The teenage girl nodded. "Right." Talia replied. "But now, Ramsay's had Ludd Whitehill install a garrison of twenty Whitehill soldiers within our walls to keep us in line when we barely had any soldiers left after the Battle at the Twins. The soldiers are consuming what supplies we had." Talia frowned.

"The Twins?" Clementine inquired curiously.

"It's a place that a wedding was held at... but now, it's called the Red Wedding... because the Freys and the Boltons ambushed the Starks and Forresters at the wedding of Edmure Tulley, who was supposed to marry a daughter of Walder Frey. But the Freys and Boltons got our men too drunk to fight back... they practically massacred them." Talia frowned even more.

The new group was shocked by this information. Larry, however, didn't seem to hear this as he kept working.

"Holy shit..." Lee muttered. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Wait a minute. How do you know all of this?" Carley inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"My friend, Gared, told me everything that happened. He was a squire for my father." Talia replied. "He was there when everything happened. My oldest brother, Rodrik, was there as well. He was badly injured and we thought he was dead until he crawled off the corpse cart he and Father were brought back on."

"So, what happened to your friend Gared? I mean being one of the survivors, he would have stayed and helped you guys, right?" Lee asked.

Talia slowly shook her head and sighed. "We sent him to The Wall. It was for his own protection and ours. I still don't like that we did that, but I think he is okay. His family was killed by Whitehill soldiers. His father and little sister, who was only eight... both killed by them. And they tried to kill him too, so he defended himself and killed a pair of Whitehill soldiers. One got away and told Ludd Whitehill... and that's where things got worse... they blamed US for what THEY did. And I'm sure you all know what happened after that..."

"Man... how could you put up with people like that?" Lee shook his head. "They sound as conniving as you can get."

"Yes... they aren't very nice, and that's a nicer way to describe them." Talia sighed as she went for the thin brown slices on her plate. She took a bite and was surprised by the intense flavor. She chewed up the bit in her mouth and asked, "Now, what is this? It's nothing like I've ever had before."

"Bacon." Katjaa replied. "It's a type of meat."

"It's good." Talia said as she swallowed.

"Haha, yeah, it is." Lee chuckled.

"Well Talia, eat up. You and I have a lot to do today." Carley said to the teenager.

"Right." Talia nodded as she remembered that Carley wanted her to learn to shoot and help her get some new clothes. "What do you mean?" Lilly asked.

"I'm taking her to get new clothes and helping her learn how to shoot." Carley answered.

"Alone?" Lilly frowned. "Why not?" Carley shrugged. "I don't think you guys would want to come along. Besides, the rest of you should stay to get the place fortified."

"You should have someone with you." Lee told her.

"I can handle myself." Carley insisted. "You know that."

"Against walkers, yes. You're right... I just hope you and Talia won't come across any electronics that need batteries." Lee said with a smirk forming on his face.

Carley frowned at him, hiding an embarrased blush. "Oh, stop..."

"You sure you'll be okay on your own?" Katjaa asked Carley. "Of course. I'm a cracked shot." Carley stated. "I think you'll need more than just marksmanship. Maybe I should come along." Lee pointed out. Carley stared at him for a moment, but sighed with defeat. "Alright..."

Lee set his plate down as Talia and Carley finished their plates. The three readied themselves to head out of the motor inn with Carley putting another black thing into the handle of her gun. Talia watched on with curiosity and opened her mouth to speak, but Carley beat her to it. "It's a magazine. It holds bullets." Carley informed her. "You have to reload them if you run out, though." Carley explained as Lee took the ax he had found last night.

"You both ready?" Lee asked.

"I guess so." Talia shrugged. She felt nervous. The first stop they would make is to get her new clothes. She wondered what they were like and if they were comfortable. She also wondered if she'll still look like a girl after the wardrobe change. With that, the trio left the motor inn and headed down the road that would lead to Macon.

Talia silently prayed that most of the walkers were gone by now. Then again, she could be wrong.

* * *

After about nearly an hour of walking, they had reached Macon. They approached the desolate town to hear a light ringing. "Alright, that damn alarm is going to buy us some time." Lee told them quietly.

"Good, we're going to need every bit of it." Carley agreed as the three approached what must have been a store. Talia looked down the street to see a huge gathering of walkers at the pharmacy before she turned and ran to catch up with Lee and Carley. Lee cautiously peered through a window before opening up the door and ushering them inside.

Once the door was shut behind them, Talia was suprised to see many, many clothes in the building on what looked like racks.

"Quite amazing." Talia whispered as she looked at the different clothes.

"Come on, let's make sure this place is abandoned." Lee said to Carley.

"Lead the way." Carley nodded as she had her gun at the ready. Together, the trio searched the place for any stray walkers. They did come across one, however.

"I got this one." Lee told them as he approached the walker with the ax before chopping it in the head. The walker fell limp immediately and collapsed. "Nice one." Carley commented quietly. "Thanks." Lee nodded. "I think that's all of them. I'll take watch while you help her." He walked over to the front door of the store.

Carley led Talia over to some odd looking apparel. "Okay... we need to find you a shirt, a pair of jeans, a pair of shoes, and some undergarments." Carley listed as she started to look through the apparel.

Talia rose an eyebrow as Carley found an odd looking thing with straps on it. "What is that?"

"It's a, um... bra. Girls here wear it" Carley explained awkwardly. She felt a bit embarrased speaking about it out loud in front of a man and to a teenager that had no clue about this kind of stuff.

Lee tried not to listen as he kept watch. He didn't wanna make the situation even more awkward. "Not listening." he said quickly from where he stood at the front. Carley quickly handed her another pair of undergarments before leading her over to some shirts.

Carley picked a yellow shirt out. "You like this one?"

Talia examined it and she found herself taking a liking ot it. "It is quite vibrant and pretty. I think I like it." Talia nodded.

"Good, it should fit you." Carley smiled. She walked over to some blue trousers and started to look through some of them. Carley pulled out a pair of blue trousers. "What about these? These are jeans."

Talia was hesitant. "Are you sure this is alright, Carley...?"

"Of course. Trust me... you'll like wearing that stuff." Carley told the younger girl. The former reporter then found a blue button up shirt that Talia could wear over her yellow shirt later on. "Here, put this on too." Carley told her. "The weather's going to get colder when summer's over."

Carley found some shoes. "Hmm...What shoe size do you wear?"

"I think size nine. Mother would usually know." Talia shrugged.

"Well, okay. Try these on." Carley said as she handed a pair of yellow shoes with white toes to the girl.

"Thank you." Talia nodded. She looked down with a weird stare at the clothing in her arms, unsure what to think. She then looked up to Carley and asked, "Is there somewhere that I can change into them?"

"Yeah, there's a fitting room in the back. Come on." Carley told her as she led the girl to a series of white rooms that stood next to one another. She opened the door, revealing a room. "Go on. I'll be waiting."

Talia slowly made her way inside and closed the door behind her. She looked to the bizarre apparel in her arms with a questionable stare. Talia sighed and muttered to herself, "Okay, here goes nothing."

Slowly, she started to take off her dress and began to put on the clothes. She slid the yellow shirt over her head and put her arms through the sleeves as she put the jeans on. Talia rose an eyebrow as she noticed that her new apparel was actually more comfortable than her old, worn out apparel.

"You okay in there?" Carley called from the other side of the door. "This... these 'jeans' are actually quite comfortable..." Talia commented. She grabbed the 'denim' blue shirt that Carley had found for her and she slipped it on. She then slipped on the socks before trying on the shoes. They fit her perfectly. Talia fumbled with the buttons of the blue shirt to try and close it up.

She eventually finished and stepped out of the dressing room. Carley did a double take and was surprised at what she saw. Talia now looked like she blended in more and looked like a civilian of their world. "Wow, you look like... like you belong to this world now." Carley commented with surprise.

"I can see why you enjoy these clothes... they're rather comfortable." Talia noted as she looked down to her new apparel. However, she kept her scarf she always wore around her neck. She wanted at least one thing from home to stay on her.

Carley then led her over to a mirror to show her what she looked like now. Instead of her bloody, torn, and dirty blue dress, she now wore a yellow shirt underneath the blue buttoned up shirt with the blue jeans and yellow sneakers. However, the yellow shirt could be seen sticking out from underneath the blue shirt. Of course, her signature scarf stayed around her neck. She was amazed by the image she was looking at. She was afraid that the new clothes would make her look more like a boy, but they didn't. She could still tell that she was very much a girl. "Do... do I look alright?" she asked cautiously.

"Of course you do! You look great!" Carley told her. "Maybe the rest of us can come down here if we need to get more clothes."

"Uh... guys?" Lee called at the front of the store. "I think the alarm at the pharmacy is done."

"Wait, what?" Carley asked. She walked over to the window to see some of the walkers limping away from the pharmacy and towards the store."Shit!" she swore.

"It'll be safer in the gun store!" Lee said. "We can come back here later!"

"It's fine. We at least got Talia some clothes. Come on!" Carley exclaimed. The three exited the clothing store where Talia was surprised to see that she could easily outrun the adults. Prior, the adults were slightly faster than her. Now, _she_ was the one faster than them! "Talia, wait for us!" Carley called. Talia stopped and waited for the two adults to pass her before she kept going. The three entered another store and sighed in relief. "I never knew that clothing would make such a difference." Talia panted. "I was barely able to keep up with you two last night, but now..."

"Well, it's much easier to run when you're wearing clothes like that." Lee smirked. Talia nodded as she found a smile forming on her lips. She looked around the store they were in and asked, "Where are we?"

"Gun store. Has tons of guns and ammo. We're gonna need 'em." Lee told her. He and Carley went to the next room and managed to grab about six handguns and three larger guns along with several boxes of ammunition, putting them all in a strange looking bag. "Alright, come on. I'm going to teach you how to shoot." Carley said as she led Talia to another room and closed the door behind them.

Talia noticed several rows that appeared to extend many feet away from her. "This is a shooting range." Carley explained. "People who own guns or are in the police force come to these places in order to practice their shooting." she said as the two approached one of the rows. "We won't have worry about the walkers since the shooting range is soundproofed. I took shooting lessons at a place like this one, but it was in a different county."

She pressed a button and some sort of sign with an outline of a person appeared hanging in the row. Carley then handed a handgun to Talia and said, "Okay, you're going to release the magazine by holding this down." Carley instructed as she pushed on some button. The magazine slipped out and fell into Carley's cupped hand. "Now, load the magazine with these." she told the teenager as she handed a box of bullets and the magazine to Talia. Talia blinked, but slowly did as she told her, although she had some difficulty putting the small cylinder shaped objects into the magazine. "These are hard to get in..."

"Not really. Then again, I've had experience." Carley shrugged. Talia tried to place another bulled inside the magazine, but no matter how hard she tried it would go in. "I can't get this bullet inside." Talia sighed, growing a bit frustrated. "It's probably full." Carley noted. "Now, take the gun and slide the magazine into it." she instructed.

The Forrester looked at the gun and managed to slide the magazine in with ease. "Nice job." Carley smiled. "Now, pull back the top of the gun until it clicks and then release." Carley said. Talia nodded and started to pull it back until she heard the click. She released as Carley said, "Okay, one last thing. There is a switch near the handle. That's the safety, unless you're ready to shoot, you keep it up. But you're wanting to shoot now, so push it down."

Carley then pointed at the sign hanging up. "Now, try shooting at that. Pull the trigger when you're ready. My advice, hold the gun with both hands for a better shot."

Talia nodded as she hesitantly pointed the gun at the sign. She then pulled the trigger and a loud bang echoed throughout her ears as the gun flew back and the barrel hit her on the nose and forehead. "OW!"

"Oh shit... you alright? Here, let me see." Carley insisted as she gently moved the teen's hands away. Carley released a sigh of relief and said, "Well, you'll be sore for a little while, maybe get a small bruise, but it doesn't look like anything's broken."

Talia winced and stumbled a bit. "Why do I see pretty stars...?" she mumbled, slightly dazed.

"That's from the kickback." Carley told her as she helped her stand straight. "Okay, let's try this again. Keep your grip tight on the handle so it doesn't fly back." Carley instructed to the young girl. She nodded as she made sure her grip on the handle was tight. "And don't lock your elbows." Carley advised as she adjusted her elbows. "Try aiming at the head of that sign."

"Got it. How exactly do I know that I'm accurate?" Talia inquired, a bit nervous that she was actually about to try to shoot again.

"You see that notch at the front of the barrel? Line that up so that it is in between the two notches in the back." Carley instructed.

Talia nodded and lined up the notches like Carley said. She then squeezed the trigger and the gun fired. The bullet zipped through the air and hit the shoulder of the outline. "Good, good. Try aiming higher and left." Carley advised. Talia adjusted her aim and fired. This time, the bullet hit the center of the head on the outline. "Good job!" Carley praised.

Talia turned to the woman and winced, "My arms are quite sore from this. Is that normal?"

"First time, yes. You'll get used to it, trust me. When facing those things out there, aim for the head. A blow to the head always takes them out."

"I noticed that. I remember last night that you always aimed for the head." Talia remembered. "Is that where you aim for to take them out?"

"I think so." Carley nodded.

Lee then came in with some sort of cart that had several guns, boxes, and oddly shaped sticks in it. "Found some more guns for the others. Not sure for the kids, though. Left some for other survivors if they need them."

"Great." Carley smiled. "Talia's quite a shooter so far."

"Is she now?" Lee asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Shut that door and she'll show you." Carley smirked. Lee nodded and closed the door to the shooting range. "Okay, show him what ya got, kid. Remember what I taught you."

Talia nodded and she raised the gun at the outline. A couple seconds later, she fired and the shot hit the outline. Her fourth shot was also in the head. Talia looked back at them. "What do you think?" she asked hesitantly.

Lee was surprised, as his eyes were wide and his jaw was almost dropped. "Damn..." was all he could say.

"Remember to put the safety on when you don't want to use it. Never aim it at a human unless they're threatening you." Carley told her. "Right, sorry." Talia said as she quickly pushed the switch up with her thumb.

Carley shook her head with a smirk. "Well, I called it. You're a natural shot. Usually, it takes people five to six shots to get a headshot."

"Now later, we'll just have to teach her how to use a rifle." Lee piped up.

"A what?" Talia questioned.

"Rifle. This thing." Lee explained as he gestured to the rifles and shotguns in the cart.

Talia rose an eyebrow as she looked at them. "Looks like a stick." Talia noted. "Haha, yeah, it kind of does." Lee chuckled. "The rifle is more accurate than a handgun, but it has more kickback."

"No way." Talia said as she shook her head. "I get enough kickback from the handgun."

"Well, if you'd try using a rifle right now, it'd knock ya flat on your ass." Lee stated. "I have no doubt." Talia shook her head.

"Well, I don't know about you two, but I want to get back to the motor inn and enjoy some dinner." Carley stated.

"I hear that." Lee agreed as he grabbed the cart and the bag. Carley also took some of the guns and the two walked out of the shooting range with the teenager behind them.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Carley remembered. She walked over and grabbed a black object which was slightly bigger than the handgun. "Here, put this on your belt." Carley said as she gave the object to Talia.

"What is it?" Talia asked as she accepted the object, slightly confused.

"It's a holster." Carley told her. "It holds your gun when not in use so you don't have to carry it in your hands all the time."

Talia strapped the hoslter to her belt. It surprised her a bit, because it reminded her of a sheath for the swords back home.

Lee had found a hammer, some boards, and some nails. "Hm, we can use these to help build defenses back at the inn." he said.

"Good idea, Lee." Carley nodded. With guns, boards, a hammer, and nails in hand (and cart, as well as bag), the three headed for the door. Lee looked around before he motioned for the group to move forward. They ran out of the store and made their way through Macon. However, they were stopped by a lonely walker before getting to the outskirts of the town.

"Ah, fuck." Lee muttered. He recognized the walker immediately. "Doug..."

The once friend turned flesh-eating corpse limped towards the three as Lee placed the guns and equipment on the ground. Talia held a hand to her mouth in horror. "By the gods..." she whispered, horrified at what the man had become.

"Doug..." Carley whispered.

The now walker-fied Doug looked at them with white, soulless eyes as he groaned and snarled. His shirt was torn and some skin was missing at the area where his intestines were torn out. This happened to him because no one saved him...

Lee sighed as he raised his axe. "Sorry about this, Doug... I'm... sorry we couldn't save you." He then brought it down on the walker's skull and a sickening crack could be heard as the walker went limp. He groaned as he pulled out the ax and Doug's body fell to the ground with a thud. Lee looked to Doug with sympathetic eyes and sighed sadly. "He was there when I had to put my younger brother down." he told the two, looking over at the body of his brother underneath the telephone pole. At least neither his brother or Doug were suffering now...

"Lee... I'm sorry you had to do that..." Carley told him. "You don't have to be... I couldn't just let my brother suffer like that. He had the keys, and the only way I could get them was... to put him down. At least he's not one of them now..." Lee muttered.

Carley stared at the corpse of Doug with sadness. Doug may have been dorky, but he did save her life...

Talia was also saddened by what happened to Doug. He was one of the few people who stood up against Larry at the pharmacy, and he seemed like a nice guy.

Lee bent down and picked up the weapons and equipment before putting them in the cart. "We better get going." Lee told them with a sigh. His companions nodded and they headed down the road that led out of Macon. They wheeled the cart down the street as they made it close to the exit of town. Talia glanced back at the corpse of Doug sadly.

"I hope I don't go down like that." Talia admitted.

"You won't. We'll keep you safe." Carley reassured her.

"Thank you..." Talia told her. The trio was glad that the walkers were still distracted from earlier, so they could make a peaceful escape... for now.

* * *

It took a while since they were pushing the shopping cart, but they made it back to the motor inn. The teenager was still surprised how much quicker she could move in these clothes now. Talia noticed that the balcony was almost repaired. "We're back." Lee announced.

"Hey, Lee, who's the girl next to Carley?" Kenny asked with confusion as he looked over his shoulder. "Very funny." Lee said with a smirk.

Kenny chuckled and stated, "I can't believe that's Talia... you look very different from this morning."

"Um... thank you?" Talia replied uncertainly, not sure how to respond to that.

"Hey, Kat! Come over here." Kenny called to his wife. The kind veterinarian came over to them. "Yes, honey?" she questioned. "Lookie who we got here." Kenny told her as he gestured to the trio. Katjaa's eyes widened upon seeing Talia. "My goodness, dear! You look lovely. I almost didn't recognize you!"

"Thank you. I actually feel more comfortable than when I was wearing my dress." Talia admitted. "It's also a lot easier to run in."

Lilly looked over her shoulder from moving a corpse out. "What's going on over there? Who's the kid? Where's Talia?" she called, not recognizing Talia. "This is Talia." Lee explained.

"Bullshit." Lilly scoffed as she approached the group, but her eyes widened upon seeing that the girl was in fact Talia. "Holy shit... it _is_ you. You... you look different."

Talia rubbed her arm shyly. "Um... hello."

Duck and Clementine ran over to see the young girl as well. "What happened to your dress?" Clementine asked, shocked to see that Talia was now dressed like them.

"I left it behind. It was kind of in the way." Talia explained. "I kept my scarf, though."

"Well, that's the shock of the day. I mean, how are you able to adjust so well to a completely new society?" Katjaa asked. Talia only shrugged and said, "I guess, I've always kept an open mind. Besides, I think I like your customs above the ones we had at home."

Larry glanced away from what he was doing and saw Talia. "Who the fuck is she?" he scowled. Talia sighed inwardly. She didn't want the older man to be mean to her today. She had enough for one day. "It's Talia. Carley took her out and got some new clothes." Lilly explained.

"New clothes or not, you're still a psycho." Larry muttered.

Lilly sighed. "Dad, please, not now."

Talia frowned. "For the last time, I am not a psychopath." she insisted. "Oh yeah... look around you! No one believes your little tale of dragons and shit!" Larry sneered. "Why don't we just send her on her way?! It's not like we owe her for anything."

"I believe her." Lee defended Talia as he stepped in front of her. "Same here." Kenny said. He also stepped up in front of Talia.

"I do too." Carley nodded.

"Hmm... well, it's a good thing that my daughter has the final say." Larry grumbled. He turned to Lilly and said, "Lilly, we need to get rid of that girl. She's crazy and a threat to all of us. Lilly shook her head. "Dad, she's just a girl."

Larry frowned."Lilly!"

"I'm sorry dad, but you're the only one who wants her gone." Lilly said.

Larry let out an angry sigh and turned a glare to Talia. "You better watch your back, girlie. You better not try anything, cause if you do, when I get the chance, I won't hesitate in killing you." he threatened before he stomped away toward what must have been his room and slammed the door, which made everyone shudder, even Lilly. Talia was shocked by his threat and stumbled back into Carley. She actually felt afraid now...

"Dick." Kenny growled at where Larry had gone to. "Don't worry. He's not going to hurt you... not as long as Lee and I are around." Carley assured Talia. Lilly crossed her arms. "He's too stubborn, that's for sure... can't believe he said that..."

"Your dad's out of control." Kenny muttered.

"Hey, I get it, but he's only trying to protect me." Lilly defended. "Yeah, by trying to kill a kid. That makes sense." Kenny scoffed sarcastically. Talia shook her head. "He needs to get under control..." she muttered, still shaken up by his threat. "I don't see that happening anytime soon." Lee sighed.

"We'll just have to keep an eye on him." Lilly said. "Trust me... his bark is normally worse than his bite."

"Do you believe me, Lilly...?" Talia asked cautiously. Lilly looked at the teenager for a moment, then sighed. "I really don't know. I mean, the dead are up and eating people. I think I would believe anything now."

"Talia, he ain't getting his hands on you." Lee promised. "I hope you're right." Talia nodded thankfully. "As for now, he seems to have backed off."

"Let's just hope it stays that way." Carley agreed. "Well, I don't about the rest of y'all but I'm ready for something to eat. We haven't eaten since this morning." Kenny changed the subject.

"Yeah, same here." Carley nodded. "Lee and I will set the firearms at a place where we can get them just in case."

"I'll get some food, but remember, guys. We can't just keep eating when we feel like it. We're gonna have to start rationing soon." Lilly reminded them. "I think after a day like this, I'll just relax for a while." Talia sighed.

"Good luck with that. With Larry the way he is now, I doubt _anyone_ could relax." Kenny shook his head. Talia then turned on her heel and headed to her room. Once she was inside, shelaid down on her bed which once again shocked her by how comfortable it was. She just wanted to rest her eyes for a couple of seconds but then she heard her door open up. She sat upright on the bed and looked over to see Clementine. "Yes, Clementine?"

"Are you okay, Talia?" Clementine asked.

"Of course I am." Talia replied quickly with a nod.

Clementine looked at her with a questioning stare and said, "I don't believe you."

Talia froze. How could she tell her? Talia sighed and admitted, "I am a little worried about my family... I don't know if they're searching for me right now and leaving Ironrath defenseless to the Whitehills."

"I'm sure they're okay. If they're all as tough as you, I bet they're fine." Clementine said.

Talia smiled softly at the girl. Her enthusiasm was comforting. "Thank you, Clementine." Talia told her. "You're welcome." Clementine smiled. "So, what did you and Duck do today while Lee, Carley, and I went to Macon?" Talia asked. "We found a soccer ball! We have to use something else for a goal, though..." Clementine muttered.

"A soccer ball? What is that?" Talia questioned.

"It's a ball people here use to play soccer, a sport!" Clementine smiled.

The teenager rose a confused eyebrow. "A sport? But aren't sports dangerous?"

"I... I don't think so." Clementine shook her head. She didn't understand the logic of the older girl. "People play sports for fun here!"

"Oh... I see... So, did you use to play this soccer sport?" Talia asked.

"Yeah, but I wasn't good at it." Clementine admitted. "I couldn't kick it in the right direction... what do you like to do for fun?" the younger girl asked, changing the subject.

"Me?" Talia asked with surprise. "Well... I would play hide and seek in the grove with Ryon and Ethan. I would also sing... That usually took up a major part of the day."

"You can sing?"

"Well, yes..." Talia nodded. "I was supposed to sing for Ethan's and father's funeral, but... I could never complete the song." she explained. She became visibly saddened at the thought of how she lost two very important people in her life. "Ethan always helped me in song."

Clementine looked at her sadly. Talia sighed and shook her head. "Never mind..."

Kenny then poked his head in. "Hey, we got food ready, you two." he told them. "Hm? Oh, thank you." Talia thanked. Clementine grabbed Talia's hand and led her outside. "We're coming, Kenny. Come on." she smiled up at the teenager. Talia followed Clementine over to what appeared to be a campfire as the others gathered around it. Talia sat down with Clementine next to her. "Here you go." Lee said as he handed them both a plate with a piece of meat lodged in between two slices of bread.

"So, what are we having this time?" Talia asked. She still remembered the delicious breakfast that she had. The food of this world was very high quality. She wondered how she was going to adjust to the food of Ironrath. If she ever returned, that is...

"These are fried baloney sandwiches." Lee explained. Before Talia could ask, Lee cut her off. "Baloney is a type of meat here. It's even better when ya fry it. Go ahead, try it."

Talia hesitantly took a bite of the sandwich. She couldn't believe how good it was... It looked questionable, so she wasn't sure of if it would be any good. But it surprised her. "This is quite fantastic." she told them once she swallowed. "I know, right? Baloney is good either way, but I preferred the fried kind." Lee nodded as he took a bite of his own.

"Ryon might've liked this..." Talia said after swallowing another bite. "Maybe Mother, too..."

"I'm sure they would..." Lee nodded. Talia tried not to glance at Larry, who sat near the fire as well glaring at her as he ate. Talia continued to eat until Carley brought up, "Well, I'm jealous. Talia is a natural shot..."

"I thought you were a natural shot." Lee smirked. "Yeah, you saved my boy yesterday." Kenny nodded.

"No way... the only way I got this good was because I had plenty of marksmanship training which took a couple of years." Carley told the fisherman. "Talia got it all down in about ten minutes."

Kenny's eyes widened. "What?" he asked.

"It's true!" Carley nodded. "She managed to shoot the training sign at the bullseye."

"Well, I'll be damned. Good job, Talia. I bet you'll be a better shot than Carley." Kenny smirked. "Hey now, don't push it. I'm still the best shot around here." Carley shook her head with an amused smile. "I don't know, Carley. I think your reign is almost over." Lee said with a smirk. "We'll see 'bout that. If Talia takes out more walkers than me, then she'll be the better marksman." she joked.

Larry scowled. "She'll be thrown out by that time."

"Yeah, right... we need as many able-bodied people with us as we can get." Kenny frowned at Larry. "Besides, she's still only a child... it will be a while till she takes on the walkers." Katjaa said. Larry scowled. "I don't give a shit. She needs to go!"

"Dad, your heart." Lilly frowned. "And we aren't throwing Talia out."

"Oh yes, we will. It'll only be a matter of time till she goes completely psycho, and now that she has a gun, she'll have an easier time in killing us!" Larry remarked snidely. "I. Am. Not. A. Psychopath." Talia said slowly as she frowned, trying not to say anything that could get her in a worse situation.

"Dad, if you keep this up, you're gonna strain your heart." Lilly reminded. "I don't care, Lilly!" Larry snapped. "You need to know that this girl is just going to get us all killed! I will make sure that doesn't happen!"

Talia's eyes widened before she glared at Larry. "If my brother Asher were here and if he heard you say that, he'd knock you flat on the ground." she told him. "I don't give a damn what your so called brother could do!" Larry snarled. Talia tried not to get angry at him.

"Larry, why don't you just leave the girl alone?" Lee snapped at the older man. "Fuck you!" Larry spat at Lee. "Dad, settle down." Lilly frowned.

Larry growled before he stormed to his room. "Mark my words, as soon as that looney tries to kill us, I'm gonna be the one to kill her!" he snarled over his shoulder as he slammed his door. "Well, he certainly is a peach today." Kenny muttered sarcastically. "He's fretting over nothing." Lilly sighed. Lee shook his head. "He punched her, as well as me back at the store to try and leave her for dead."

"Wait, he what?!" Kenny exclaimed. "I didn't know he did that." Lilly's eyes widened. "I better go talk to him." She got up and walked over to his room while Carley, Kenny, and Katjaa eyed Lee and Talia with suspicion. "Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Carley inquired. Lee shook his head. "We didn't want to anger Larry even further..."

"And you think hiding it from the rest of us was okay?" Carley asked. "I worry about you guys."

"I'm sorry... but I thought he'd try to hurt us again if we told." Talia said.

"He won't." Katjaa assured.

"If anyone should be thrown out of the group and get hurt, it's that fat-ass." Kenny scowled. "He tried to kill my son since he was covered in muck and Larry thought he was bit before you came."

"That sounds awful." Talia frowned with sympathy. She turned to the boy and asked, "Are you okay, now, Duck?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Duck nodded as he continued to consume his sandwich. "Whoa, slow down, Duck. You'll choke if you keep that up." Kenny told his son. "Sorry, Dad..." Duck apologized sheepishly with his mouth full. The boy slowed his pace down to eat as Talia and Clementine giggled at the boy's eating habit. "So, Talia, Clementine mentioned you were working on a song." Lee brought up. "I was working on a song. It was to be sung at father's and Ethan's funeral..." Talia said as she looked down with a frown. "I didn't get the chance to finish it, but... well, I have the tune of it down. I was trying to think of some lyrics."

"Well, we did hear you humming when Glenn was driving us from the motor inn back to the pharmacy. Was that they song you were going to sing?" Carley inquired. "Yes... yes it was." Talia nodded. "So you don't have any lyrics for it?" Lee asked. "I only had some, but... I had written them on parchment back at home..." the teenager explained.

"Maybe we can find some paper here." Carley offered. "That would be nice... my family would never get to hear me sing it, but it would be nice to finish my song." Talia nodded. Carley had gotten up to search for some paper and the woman eventually returned with some paper, some for Talia and some for the kids. "Here, I found these in a room. You, Clementine, and Duck can use them." she told her. "Thank you, Carley. I'll try to finish that song." Talia nodded as Carley handed her a few sheets. "Do you have a quill?"

"We don't use those anymore, but we do have ink. We write with pens or pencils." Lee explained. Before Talia could ask, Lee beat her right to it. "Writing utensils we use. Although you constantly have to sharpen a pencil to keep writing while you can write nonstop with a pen until it runs out of ink."

And what happens when you run out of ink in a pen? Do you dip it in an inkwell?" Talia asked.

Kenny chuckled and replied, "Not quite. You get a lot of ink in a pen. If you run out, you just get a new pen."

"Oh... I see." Talia nodded as she finished her sandwich. "I guess I got my assignment for the evening." she joked lightly. "Lee, care to help me with blocking off the entrances?" Kenny requested. "Sure, Ken." Lee nodded as he got up and followed Kenny over to the entrances. Talia was given a pen, so she went to her room with the paper and sat down at the bed. She tested the pen out and was surprised by how easy it was to use, so she began to write what few lyrics she had come up with. She tested the lyrics a couple of times with a whisper and continued to write more and more. Talia tried to think of what to put where she left off, but... her mind was blank. She groaned and banged her head slightly on the desk.

She couldn't think of what do put next. It was where she was stuck on before she was brought to this world. Talia's brain was out of ideas. She heard a knock at the door and it opened. "Talia? What's wrong?" Carley's voice could be heard from the doorway. The door was now open and Talia looked over her shoulder.

"I got stuck in the same spot when it came to father's and Ethan's funeral." Talia explained with a sigh as she looked down to the paper. Carley walked over to her and looked at the lyrics. Her eyes widened. "Wow... these are good lyrics."

"I don't know what to put after it." Talia admitted. "Well, getting some fresh air usually clears the mind. I bet you just need to get out of this room and walk around for a bit." Carley suggested. Talia glanced up at her new friend with uncertainty. "I tried to walk to clear my mind earlier before I came here..."

"Well, I doubt you'll end up in another dimension. Besides, we're just sticking around the motor inn." Carley said. "Come on."

Talia sighed before she got up and followed the woman to go out of the room. Talia walked with the older woman around the motor inn. She could see Kenny and Lee pushing a large box in the way of one of the entrances. Clementine and Duck were drawing with each other on what appeared to be a flattened brown material. Lilly and Larry were nowhere to be seen. "You have quite a few odd customs and technology." Talia commented. "I'm not trying to be mean... I'm just..."

"It's hard to take it all in, isn't it?" Carley asked. Talia nodded. "It is..."

"I guess it is an improvement as opposed to home. I do feel like I am more free in this world." Talia said. Carley nodded. "Well, woman have more freedom here. They can vote, fight in the army, get jobs that men can do..."

"It's all so strange here. Woman in my world were very hindered. My mother was lucky. She had much influence in the north. Many people respect her, even Lord Whitehill slightly respected her." Talia said. "There is also Maergery Tyrell. She was one of the most influential people in all of Westeros." she added. "But... Queen Cersei... she's..."

"She's what?" Carley asked.

"She has the most influence, but it's not good." Talia shook her head with a sigh.

"Why not?" the reporter asked.

"She's horrible. She seeks fun and enjoyment out of other people's suffering. I felt nervous when my sister, Mira, was going to the same place that Queen Ceresi lived." Talia explained. "Her son, King Joffrey, is even worse."

"What did he do?" Carley asked. "He is an absolute tyrant." Talia shook her head. "He orders horrible things for his own amusement. Sometimes, he carries them out himself. He even ordered Ned Stark killed because of a false treason accusation. Reports said that he gleefully watched as Ilyn Payne beheaded him."

"God... That's awful... wasn't there anyone who would oppose his rule?" Carley asked. She was disturbed by the gruesomeness of the tyrant. "There are, but they dare not act out publicly. He would surely order their execution immediately. I've heard that even his mother, Cersei, is appalled by some of his actions." Talia told her. "I would be too..." Carley nodded in agreement.

"Thankfully, Lord Tyrion is quite delightful from what I've heard. He is the brother of Queen Ceresi." Talia added.

"What's Tyrion like?" Carley inquired. "He's... he's the younger brother of Queen Cersei and Lord Jaime Lannister. He's been bullied for his dwarf status, but he's not like Cersei, thankfully. He's Master of the Coin. And one of the few people who will slap King Joffrey to discipline him. Sadly, the slaps don't work." she explained. "Yeah, to clean up that kid's attitude, slapping isn't quite good enough." Carley said.

"What would you suggest?" Talia asked.

Carley smirked and said, "I'm guessing he's used to an extravogant lifestyle, so I would have dumped him in the middle of the woods and left him with a knife. That would teach him to appreciate what he has."

"He deserves a more severe punishment." Talia shook her head. "By all the atrocious acts he commited, he should be thrown into the darkest dungeon in Westeros."

"Hell, for punishment... he would have to have a death sentence." Carley said. Talia looked at the woman as they walked past Katjaa, who was watching the kids. "I actually agree... I'd never say it out loud back at home, though." Talia said. The girl heard rather foul things happened to those who dared speak such things of the King back in King's Landing. "Makes sense... but he isn't here now and neither is his slave support." Carley told her.

Talia chuckled, "You're right about that."

She then glanced at the room Larry was in. She felt nervous to head there, because she didn't like the way that Larry had threatened her earlier. "How can you deal with him?"

"Trust me, kid, I am trying everything I can not to go apeshit on him." Carley shook her head. "I haven't had caffeine for four days now, so I am pretty edgey."

"I suppose we're all edgey." Talia said.

"I bet so." Carley shrugged. "You still holding up alright? I mean, all of this is new to you."

"I think I am. I'm still trying to adjust to your customs, though." Talia said.

"We got a walker." Lee called as he grabbed the ax and headed over to the walker in the street that stumbled towards the motor inn. With a swift chop to the head, the walker fell. Lee dragged the walker away from the inn and into the forest across the road. "Well, I have to admit that I'm still trying to get used to what's happening to our world." Carley said once the walker was gone.

"Unfortunately, those walkers are the only things that are familiar." Talia sighed. "I haven't seen White Walkers myself because... I've only heard stories about them. Some people believe that the rumors of the dragons returning are to fight the White Walkers." she told her. "Dragons have fire on their side, and from the stories, fire is the only way to take down White Walkers and wights."

Carley was a bit disturbed by that information. "So... not even arrows or swords would stop them?" she asked. Talia shook her head. "No. They'd just keep going unless they were burned." the girl explained. "Not even a headshot worked?" Carley inquired.

Talia shook her head and said, "Unless the arrow was on fire, you wouldn't kill it."

The two then turned to see Lee approaching them. He went up to the group of five and Carley said, "So, did you get rid of that walker?" Carley asked him, earning a nod from the man. "Yeah. It's in the woods away from here now, so we won't be able to smell it." he answered before he went to go keep watch for any other walking corpses.

"Well, thank you for the walk." Talia said as the two walked closer to Talia's door. "I think I might be able to finish that song."

"No prob kid." Carley nodded. She started to walk away as Talia entered her own room. She went to her table to resume working on the song, but then her ears picked up on something. Talia looked around the room and thought that something wasn't right. She had felt the feeling before... the feeling of being watched by someone.

Feeling uneasy, she slowly edged to her gun resting on the nightstand as she kept looking around cautiously. Suddenly, a young man bolted out from the closet and shouted while wielding a machete. He looked filthy and was covered in muck and blood. Plus, his eyes didn't look right. He looked rather intimidating. How in the seven hells did he get in here?!

Talia screamed in surprise and stumbled backwards. The man pinned her to the window and covered her mouth with his hand. "Shut up. Shut up, you fucking bitch. Shut up." the man hissed, his mouth pulled back in a snarl before he wrapped his hands around her throat. He started to strangle her as Talia tried to fight back. Her vision was becoming blurry, but she had to get out of the man's grasp. Thinking quickly, she kicked the man in the groin, resulting in a groan of pain as he hunched over.

"Talia?! What's going on?!" she heard Lilly call from outside. "What's all that yelling?!"

In his pain, the man dropped his machete. Talia grabbed the machete on the floor and stared off against the man who had recovered from the kick to his groin. "You think I'm scared of you, bitch?" He swooped in to attack her, but Talia weaved away from him and kicked him in the back of the leg. "Argh!" The man yelped, falling to his knees.

Talia grunted as she took a swing with the machete to the man's head. The flat side of it hit his head at first, but she lifted it again and chopped him in the head, killing him. As he went slack, Lee and Lilly then came into the room and their eyes widened seeing the dead man. "Talia, what the hell happened?!" Lee questioned.

Talia panted as she turned to the two adults. She needed a minute to get her bearings and to breathe. She was taught how to use a sword, but she never expected to take a life. "I... this man found his way into my room. I don't know what he wanted, but he attacked me and tried to strangle me. "He was hiding in my closet..." she panted, feeling sick to her stomach.

Lilly's eyes widened. "Shit... Lee, get Kenny and check the other closets!" she ordered.

"On it." Lee nodded and he rushed out of the room. Lilly looked to the dead man on the ground and sighed. "We're going to have to... get him out of here." she told Talia. "You up for this?"

Although Talia felt like she was about to vomit, she shakily nodded. "Y-Yes..."

Together, she and Lilly began to drag the dead man out. The sound and stench was sickening to Talia and she struggled to keep it together. Katjaa made sure that Clementine and Duck couldn't see the blood and the corpse. The two finally managed to drag the man out into the woods where the dead walker that Lee dealt with earlier was. "I don't even know how he snuck in." Lilly muttered. "I-It must have been while we were in Macon..." Talia stammered. "We need to fortify this place." Lilly said. "Who knows if someone or something will try to sneak in again?"

"I don't think I can sleep tonight knowing someone easily snuck into my room." Talia shuddered. "I'll move you to a different room for the night..." Lilly said.

"Thank you..." Talia told her as they headed back to the motor inn. Lilly decided to take the machete with them. It would probably be useful later on if any more of those things came. She then led her to another room after Talia collected her few things in her room.

Talia glanced around her new room with slight caution. No one else was in here...

She checked the closet, finding no one in there, thankfully. She sighed with relief before sitting down at a desk, returning to working on her song. Although she was quite shaken up from the man that attacked her earlier, she still needed to finish this. This song was for her brother and father. She wasn't going to let this song go unfinished, even if she had trouble with some of it.

* * *

Talia stayed in her room for quite a while, a couple hours at least due to being stumped a bit, but at last, she finished the song. Talia read the words on the sheet of paper over and over, humming them a few times to test them out, before nodding with satisfaction.

She stepped out of her room, seeing that the sky had grown a bit darker, but most of the group, except for Larry, was gathered around a campfire. Talia approached the campfire and its group members. Her friend and tutor, Carley, was busy keeping watch, which meant that Talia was with Lee, Kenny, Katjaa, Lilly, Duck, and Clementine for now.

"Hi, Talia!" Duck smiled.

"Hello, Duck." Talia greeted as she took a seat in an empty chair. "Are you okay? You seemed rather shaken up from earlier..." Katjaa told her with concern. "I'm fine... it just surprised me." Talia shook her head.

"How did that sonuvabitch even get in here?!" Kenny exclaimed. "He must have snuck in through her window. We'll need to secure a fence around this place." Lilly spoke up.

"She's right. Anyone or anything could get in." Katjaa agreed.

"Which is why Lee and I put those two dumpsters to block the entrance earlier." Kenny pointed out. "We'll need to gather nails, hammers, boards..."

"There's probably plenty of that stuff in the hardware store in Macon... besides, we need to make a run for some food." Lee said. They'd need to stock up on food. Who knew how long they'd have to stay here?

"You're going on another run tomorrow?" Clementine asked. She was somewhat saddened to hear that her guardian was leaving tomorrow.

"Hey, it'll be okay, sweet pea." Lee told her. "Talia will be with you."

Clementine seemed to cheer up a bit at that.

Duck then noticed the slip of paper Talia had in her hand. "Hey, what's that?" he piped up. "It's my song for Ethan's and my father's funeral. It took some time, but I finally finished." Talia replied.

"Can we hear it?" Duck asked enthusiastically.

Talia blinked in surprise. "Y-You mean right now?"

"Ducky, don't push her. It has been a long day for her, and this song was for the funeral for her daddy and brother." Katjaa told him gently. Duck's face fell a bit at that. Talia looked at the sheet of paper before she took a deep breath. "Here goes..." she muttered before she opened her mouth and began to sing softly.

 _"From ice, from ice_

 _We Forresters born_

 _To ice, we all return..."_

The group was shocked as she opened her mouth. She sounded... amazing. Her voice was beautiful. Talia continued the song, but it was getting harder and harder to keep her composure.

 _"Father, brother, I've sworn, I've sworn_

 _To guard this rest you earned..."_

A tear rolled down her cheek, but then she clenched her fist as she regained her composure and began to sing with more power in her voice.

 _"I'd bare my neck to Ilyn Payne_

 _And swim the Shivering Seas..._

 _Paint Slaver's Bay in crimson rains_

 _To bring Ethan back to me..."_ Talia sang. She felt tears starting sting her eyes as she remembered the smiling face of her twin brother, but she continued.

 _"His final words faced with the sword_

 _Chilled Ramsay to the bone..._

 _'You will not have her_

 _I am Lord_

 _And I protect my own!'"_

Carley stared at Talia as she sang. She could hear the emotion in the song. However, none of them saw Larry watching from his window, as he had heard the singing. He stared for a moment, then scowled and closed the curtains.

 _"Fight on, fight on, Ethan the Brave_

 _Old gods bare steel with you..._

 _Our lord, my twin, a hero's grave_

 _So iron grows anew_

 _Still iron grows anew..."_ she finished, taking a deep breath, as that took quite a lot out of her. Before any of them could comment, she headed to her room. "I-I need a moment..."

As she closed the door, she sighed and wiped away some stray tears. She felt better having finished the song. It felt like a heavy weight was lifted from her shoulders.

She then thought of her brother and her father, as well as the state of her home. What was going on over there now? What was the garrison doing to her family? Did her mother know where she was?

She couldn't help but worry. Was her mother alright? She was devastated when Ethan was killed and Ryon was taken... now that she was gone... how would her mother feel?


	4. Quest For Food

Meanwhile in Ironrath, Rodrik Forrester sat at the table in the great hall tapping the fingers of his good arm while his mother, Elissa Forrester, paced back and forth anxiously. They were both waiting for the guards to return. Neither had gotten much sleep over the past couple of days. Not since Talia had disappeared so suddenly.

Duncan then stepped into the great hall. Elissa immediately looked at him. "Did they find her?!" she asked with worry. The man shook his head. "No, my Lady." he answered grimly.

Elissa closed her eyes and headed to the nearby window. Rodrik groaned as he got up and winced, "Mother..." He approached her with the use of his cane, which was something that he hoped that he would never have to use until he was older.

Elissa let out a breath. "Rodrik, I'm worried. Gregor's gone, Ethan's gone, Ryon's been taken by Ludd... Talia's missing..."

"She'll be alright, mother." Rodrik tried to comfort Elissa. "She's strong and resourceful... just like you."

"She hasn't come back ever since she's gone to the grove." Elissa looked at her eldest son. "What could have happened to her...?"

"It's hard to tell, mother." Rodrik told her. "But she's probably alright."

Elissa looked out the window and sighed. "I hope you're right, my son." Elissa whispered. It was then Ser Royland stepped in. "The soldiers I sent out just came back from their search. There is still no sign of her." he told them grimly.

The room was silent for a few moments. It was a lot to take in. Rodrik was barely able to walk, Gregor and Ethan were dead, Ryon was abducted, and now Talia was missing. Ever since Talia disappeared, they had to put the funeral for Ethan and Gregor on hold.

"Send another search tomorrow." Rodrik ordered with a frown. "Right now, it's too dark out there and we can't afford to lose the men to the Whitehills. Our numbers are already low."

Royland nodded. "Yes, my lord." he replied before he stepped out. Rodrik then looked at his mother, who looked even more worried now. "Mother?"

"Rodrik... you don't think that... the Whitehills are behind her disappearance?"

The eldest son frowned. "If our searches are not fruitful, then I will send a raven to Ludd Whitehill. He might know where she is."

"And... if he doesn't?"

Rodrik closed his eyes. "Then we will continue searching for her. No matter how long it takes."

* * *

Sunlight streamed through the curtains of Talia's room and hit the sleeping Forrester's face. Talia pulled the covers closer in an attempt to block the light out. She felt so tired...

Suddenly, something hit her door loudly, causing her eyes to snap open and she bolted upright with alertness. "Duck, careful where you're kicking that thing!" she could hear Kenny scold faintly outside.

"Sorry, Dad!" Duck apologized. Talia sighed with relief, then she glanced at the closet nervously, still a little shaken up by the incident with the man the day before. She couldn't help but feel paranoid. What if someone else was hiding in there, waiting to strike?

Talia picked her gun off her nighstand and cautiously approached the closet before opening the door and aiming her gun inside, then sighed with relief. No one was there. She lowered her gun before closing the door and stepping into the small bathroom, glancing at her reflection in the mirror. She fixed a few loose strands of hair before stepping out and leaving her room. She had to shield her face from the bright sunlight before her vision adjusted.

The teenager could see that Duck was kicking around a black and white ball that Clementine told her was called a 'soccer ball'. Talia deduced that was the source of the noise that had woken her up.

Clementine was using a sort of colorful writing tool to draw on some paper that was given to her. Kenny and Lee were working together to keep setting up the gates. Talia glanced up and saw that Lilly was sitting atop of the RV cleaning the blood off the machete. Carley was helping Katjaa set up some chairs as Larry was leaning against a pillar with his constant scowl. Talia also noticed that the pile of corpses from before was gone, which comforted her a bit. Knowing that it would be extremely unwise to strike up a converstion with Larry, Talia hurriedly headed over to greet the others.

"I see Duck's woken you up." Katjaa smiled when she saw the girl. Duck smiled sheepishly before resuming playing with the soccer ball. "Probably would've slept till noon." Lee called over his shoulder. Talia frowned a little bit. "I would not." she replied.

"Uh huh, sure." Lee chuckled, not really buying it as he finished pushing a large, steel box into the gap that lead into the parking lot.

"How are we doing on food?" Lilly inquired, taking her eyes off the treeline for a moment. Lee looked up at the woman atop the RV. "So far, besides the bacon, eggs, and baloney, we have enough to last us a couple of days here."

"Well, shit." Lilly muttered. "Not to mention that we'll need stuff to keep the gates supported." Kenny added. Lilly glanced down at the man from Florida and thought about it for a moment. The airforce base she worked at, Warner Robins, had a bunch of food there. Maybe they could also grab some boards there, if they could. "Kenny, how much gas does your truck have?" Lilly called.

The man rose an eyebrow. "The tank's still a little full thanks to the gas Glenn got us. Why?"

"We're gonna need to borrow it." the woman replied.

Kenny narrowed his eyes. "What the hell for?"

"The airforce base that I worked at had a bunch of food stocked up for planes to carry. We could get that for us." she explained. Carley looked up at that. "That's a great idea. That could help us hold out longer here."

"She ain't driving my car." Kenny shook his head. "I can." Lee volunteered. "Lilly could give me the directions to drive. We could load the food into the back."

Kenny glanced at his friend before he nodded in agreement. "Sounds good to me."

"May I come along?" Talia asked as she approached them. Lee was silent for a moment. Talia was still a kid in a strange, new world. She had just learned to use a gun. Not to mention she was attacked by a random stranger yesterday. Would she be able to handle this?

"You sure you're up for this?" Lee asked her. The Forrester nodded, confirming it. "I'd rather not stay here all day and do nothing." she insisted. Plus, she wanted to see just what was outside this area. This world still amazed her, yet frightened her at the same time.

"I don't want my daughter anywhere near that asshole and psycho." Larry spat from where he stood. Lilly just ignored her father's complaint as she climbed down from RV, handing the rifle to Kenny as he and Lee worked on pulling the dumpsters back into the lot for an opening. "You take watch while we're gone?" she questioned. "Sure." Kenny nodded, taking the gun into his hands. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his truck keys before handing them to Lee. "You be careful out there."

Lee nodded. "You got it."

Lilly grabbed a couple guns for them to take, just in case. Clementine noticed Talia, Lilly, and Lee heading to Kenny's truck and ran over to them. "Lee? Where are you going?"

Lee knelt down to her level. "Sweet pea, remember last night when I said I'd be out on a supply run? Lilly, Talia, and I are heading to an airforce base to find supplies for us. I won't be long." he told her gently. The little girl glanced down at her feet. "Oh... will you be okay?" she asked him worriedly.

"Of course we will." Lee smiled reassuringly, then stood back up. "We'll be back before you know it."

Lilly opened the passenger's door and got in first before holding it open for Talia. The teenager climbed in just as Lee got into the driver's seat, putting the keys into the ignition. The engine roared to life as Lee pressed down on the accelerator, driving out of the lot and leaving the motor inn behind.

"So, which way do we go?"

* * *

Talia stared out at the sights from her window as Lee drove. The fields she saw were lush and green, but she saw a few cars crashed into trees herer and there. There was even a stray walker stumbling about as they drove by it. At least thirty minutes had passed since they left the motor inn, but Talia couldn't see any sign of a base.

"How far did you say it was?" she asked Lilly as she looked back at her.

"We're nearly there." the woman answered her.

"When we get there, we should stay close to each other in case something goes wrong." Lee suggested. It was then Talia could see something in the distance. She was surprised, seeing large several odd contraptions that were lying outside with several paths that led to a set of large buildings.

"This the place?" Lee asked, earning a nod from Lilly.

Lee drove the truck down the path, passing by the large structures as Talia gawked at them. "Are... are those the 'planes' you told me about, Lilly?" she inquired. The woman nodded, a little relieved to see a familiar sight. As Lee drove by a large building with a large gap, Lilly told him to stop here. Lee parked the car in inside of it and they stepped out. "What's this?" Talia asked as she craned her neck to look up at the building, seeing the interior of the roof. "This is called a hanger. It's where planes are put to rest or to be worked on." Lilly explained as she holstered a gun.

"Lilly, what's the plan?" Lee questioned as he held a rifle in his hands. "Some of the food is stocked up near the storage so people can take them onto planes faster when they go out. If we put them into boxes, we can carry them to the truck faster." Lilly told the two as she led them past an abandoned airplane towards the back of the hangar. Talia could hear her footsteps echoing throughout the hangar as they walked further away from the entrance. As they neared a door, Lilly pulled her gun out and held it at the ready as she cautiously reached for the doorknob. She opened the door and thankfully, nothing came lunging out at them.

The three stepped into the storage room, finding shelves stocked with canned goods, boxes of food, packets that said 'ramen', and even jars. "Jackpot." Lee remarked as a smile appeared on his features. Talia's eyes widened as she stared at the shelves. She remembered their kitchen back in Ironrath, but it didn't have this much food in it like this place did. Lilly picked up an empty cardboard box and started filling it with the food. Lee followed suit. Talia hesitated for a moment before joining them. She picked up a box that was rather light and started to place food into it. She rose an eyebrow as she picked up a box labeled 'crackers'. She recognized the word from a similar box she found on the streets when she first came to this strange world.

She placed it into the box before picking up a couple bags labeled 'Doritos' and placing them in the cardboard box as well. Talia wondered just what this odd food tasted like. Soon, she felt the box begin to grow heavy. "Okay, that's enough for now." Lilly told them. "Time to get these back to the truck."

Talia had to lean back a bit in order to hold the box as they carried the food to the truck, placing them in the back of the pickup. "Okay... three down... who knows how much to go." Lee muttered to himself as they turned to head back. As they prepared to grab more food, they could hear footsteps echo in the hangar. They froze at the noise and quickly crouched down. Was it a walker?

Lilly signaled for them to stay quiet as she reached for her gun and quickly aimed it out the door. "Who's there?!" she demanded.

The footsteps stopped almost immediately at that. "Whoa! Don't shoot! I come in peace!" a man could be heard saying frantically. Lilly rose an eyebrow and lowered her gun, slowly rising to her feet. "Show yourself!" she demanded, stepping out of the storage room with Lee and Talia following her.

They saw a man with black hair standing there with his hands held up in surrender. He wore a long sleeved shirt over a gray t shirt with brown pants. Talia could see the word 'Mark' on his shirt. He also were something strange on his face over his eyes. Lilly blinked in surprise as she lowered her gun completely. "Mark?" she asked with slight surprise laced in her voice.

The man's eyes widened when his eyes fell on her. "Lilly...?"

Talia looked back and forth at them with confusion. "Do you two know each other?"

"He works here like I did." the woman answered, then glanced back at Mark. "Where's everyone else?"

Mark shrugged. "I don't know. When those things started coming, a lotta guys ran out to help civilians. They didn't last long, though. Lotta people got bit. One almost got me, but I managed to hide in one of the storage closets. Thank god it had oxygen, though." he commented.

"There's more food?" Lee asked. The man nodded. "Yeah. I... ate a little bit while I was in there, though." he admitted sheepishly. Lilly sighed at that. "Well, we came here to get some food for our group. We really need some to hold out."

Mark perked up at that. "You have a group?"

"Yeah, we do." Lilly nodded. Talia kept staring at the man with confusion. This man seemed rather friendly. But could he be trusted?

"Hey, look, I've been stuck here for five days straight with no one around. Can I come with you guys?" Mark asked with pleading eyes. Lilly furrowed her brow. "... we already have nine people in our group." she said. Lee looked at Lilly. "He'll probably die out here, Lilly."

"He has access to food here. Maybe he could help us get some more into the truck?" Talia suggested. Lilly paused to think about it. He had the keys to another food storage closet... he could help. Her father was most likely gonna give 'em hell for this...

She let out a sigh. "... you can come." she relented. "But you help us get this food into the truck."

Mark nodded. "Yeah... yeah, you got it."

He picked up another box and helped them load some food into it. "Name's Lee, by the way. And this is Talia." Lee introduced as they carried the food back to the truck again. Mark gave a nod in greeting. "Nice to meet you two. At least there's some nice people around after the shit that just happened. When those things showed up, everyone went nuts. They mostly tried to help some civilians or escape, but I saw a couple of them get caught by one of those things..." he shuddered. "It just bit right into them."

He then glanced at Talia. "I don't think I"ve seen you around here, kid. Where you from?"

Talia wasn't sure how to answer that. She was in a strange, new world, after all. And when she first met Lee and the group, they didn't believe her at first until only a few listened. "I don't think you'd believe me if I told you..." she replied, hesitating a bit.

Mark rose an eyebrow at that. "She... comes from a place far from here." Lee answered quickly, coming up with a lie. It would be difficult to explain it to Mark here. "Where she's from, they don't have some things like we do. So she's a bit new at this kind of stuff."

Talia nodded, going along with the lie. She wasn't sure about telling where she was from to a total stranger. "Yes, um... _very_ far away from here."

After they loaded the box into the truck, Mark pulled out a set of keys while picking up another empty box. "The storage closet I hid in is down this way. Follow me."

Mark led them towards a different door in the hangar that led into a type of hall with flickering lights. "The power here's been going on and off since the generator kinda got messed up, so it's gonna be dark in some areas." Mark warned them as he opened up another door, this time leading into a smaller room. There was a desk with papers scattered about and a chair on wheels near it, but the most noticeable sight was the stained blood on the desktop. Talia covered her nose from the spell. "God... this was Rory's desk, right?" Lilly asked Mark, who sighed and nodded.

"Yeah... he was an asshole, but..." He shook his head. "Let's keep moving. The closet's right over here."

They walked over to another door and Mark looked at his keys until he found the right one. "Ah, here we go..." He put the key in the lock and twisted it, unlocking it. All Talia could see in it was darkness until Mark flicked the lights on, revealing a few shelves stocked with food... as well as a few opened boxes laying about. Lilly shot Mark a look, who just looked away sheepishly. "Come on, let's get as much as we can carry."

With that, the new group of four stepped inside and began grabbing small boxes, cans, jars, bottles, and basically anything that could fit into the box. Talia found a couple canteens lying about, so she picked them up. Perhaps they could be useful, later.

Within minutes, the box was completely full, having been filled with nearly everything from two shelves. Mark carried the box for them as they prepared to make another trip back. It was then they heard a low, snarling noise as they came back into the room. "What was that...?" Lee asked.

Suddenly, a hand shot out from underneath the bloodied desk. Talia jumped. "Look out!" she warned. "Oh shit!" Mark gasped, nearly dropping the box. Talia stepped back in surprise as a walker that seemed to be dressed similar to Mark pulled itself out. There was a large bite wound on his neck and shoulder with a large blood stain at that area. "It's Rory!" Mark exclaimed with shock in his eyes. The walker snarled as it tried to grab Talia's ankle to take a bite out of, but thankfully, she stepped away quickly.

Lee reached for the ax and prepared to attack the walker-fied Rory. "Stand back!" he warned. Talia, Lilly, and Mark quickly backed away as Lee brought the ax down on the walker's head, resulting in a sickening crack. A deep cut was visible on the head. Talia grimaced at that as the walker weakly reached up again, only to be finished off by another hack from Lee's fire ax.

The walker collapsed on the ground as blood stained the tile floor beneath it. "If there was a walker here, then there might be more nearby." Lilly realized.

"Fuck..." Lee swore, then looked back at the three. "We need to get moving."

Quickly, the four began to leave. As they headed back to the hall they came through, they were greeted by a pair of walkers that were dressed similarly to Mark. The two undead creatures noticed them and stumbled towards the live humans as they groaned and moaned. "Shit..." Lilly growled as they started backing away, looking for an exit.

Lee had his ax ready, but another joined the two walkers. "Shit!" Lee frowned. "This way!" Mark told them as they turned on their heels and ran. Talia could hear the walkers' footsteps behind them, which made her heart beat fast out of fear.

Mark almost fell flat on his face as they rounded a corner while trying not to trip with the box of food in his hands. They headed through a doorway and found themselves in a room with some overturned chairs and a couple couches, as well as a table or two. "The recreation room..." Lilly muttered, recognizing the dimly lit room. This was where the officers of higher ranking would order the ones of lower ranking around. Some of the higher ranks were total pains to her back before the walkers showed up.

Talia noticed a door to the side several feet away. "Could that be a way out?"

"Yeah. It leads outside. We can get to the truck this way." Lilly nodded. It was then the walkers that were chasing them earlier had reached the doorway. "Shit! Get to the door!" Lee exclaimed. The quartet quickly charged to the door and tried to open it, only to find it jammed. "Fuck!" Lee swore.

Talia whirled around and noticed the walkers beginning to approach them. "They're coming!" she gasped. Lee started ramming his shoulder into the door. "Someone hold them off! I'll try to get the door open!"

The teenage girl gulped and reached for her gun and aimed it at the walkers. She coudlnt believe she was going to use a gun on these things for the first time now. Her hands shook a bit, but she focused on aiming at the walkers, remembering what Carley taught her. She pulled the trigger and a bullet shot out of the barrel, hitting one of the walkers in the shoulder. This didn't faze it a bit, as the walker kept stumbling. Talia then remembered that a blow to the head would take them out. She tried aiming higher, trying to aim at the head and pulled the trigger again.

This time, a bullet hole appeared in the walker's head and it collapsed on the ground. She got it!

Seeing what Talia was doing, Lilly pulled out her own gun and assisted her. The gunshots rang throughout the room as Lilly pulled the trigger, shooting a walker in the forehead. Talia shot at another walker, managing to shoot it in the head. Lee gritted his teeth and rammed his shoulder into the door as hard as he could again. This time, the door flew open. "Come on!"

Realizing Lee got the door open, Lilly and Talia turned and ran towards him with Mark. Lee held the door open for the three, ushering them outside as he kept an eye on the remaining walkers coming in. Once all three were out the door, Lee followed them and slammed the door behind him. For good measure, he pulled a wooden crate next to it and placed it firmly in front of the door. "That should buy us some time... now, come on! Go, go, go!"

Talia almost tripped on her feet as they ran across the pavement. Mark's arms were starting to grow tired from carrying the box around, but he managed. In the distance, they could see the hangar, as well as the truck waiting for them. Talia didn't think that they had gone that far from the hangar when they went inside the base.

However, the sound of snarling reached their ears and to their surprise, they found a couple of walkers stumbling about just outside the hangar. "Son of a bitch!" Lilly growled, but didn't slow down for a moment. As they arrived at the parked car, the two walkers noticed them and began to stumble towards the people. Talia aimed her gun at them, but Lee stopped her. "I got this." he insisted before approaching the undead beings with his fire ax. One reached at him, but he swiftly chopped it in the head. As the second walker approached him, Lee struggled to wrench it out in time. As the walker reached to him, Lee slammed his foot into its stomach and made it stumble back, but not by much. Seeing that Lee was in trouble, Talia aimed her gun at the walker and prepared to shoot it. "Lee, look out!" she warned.

Lee ducked down and Talia pulled the trigger, thankfully shooting it back in the head. The shot rang throughout the air as the walker fell to the ground dead. At this time, Lee finally pulled the ax out. He looked at Talia with wide eyes. "Holy shit... good one. You saved my ass, there."

Talia shakily lowered the gun. "Y-You're welcome..."

Mark got the box of food in the back with the others. "You're gonna have to ride in the back." Lilly told him as she opened the passenger's door. Lee then noticed that a couple more walkers came staggering out, then a few more...

"Ah, fuck..." he muttered, backing away with Talia. "Get in the car, guys!"

Without any hesitation, Lilly got into the truck while Mark hopped into the back, avoiding the boxes and finding a seat. Lee ran around to the driver's side and got in while Lilly held the door open for Talia. The moment Talia made it into her seat, Lee started the car and slammed his foot down on the accelerator.

The tires squealed against the pavement as the car sped away from the aircraft hangar. Mark had to hold onto the sides as they drove over a speed bump.

Talia glanced out the back window and her breath hitched, seeing at least a dozen walkers trudging about where they once were. "Man, that was a close one!" Mark called over the roar of the engine so they could hear. "Yeah... yeah, it was..." Lee agreed, keeping his eyes on the road as the airbase soon became nothing more than a speck in the distance.

* * *

Kenny sat atop the RV keeping a close eye on the road across from the motor inn. Lee, Lilly, and Talia were gone for at least two hours now. He hope they'd hurry up, because he was getting tired of hearing Larry's shit.

As if his prayers were answered, he heard an engine in the distance. Keeping his hands on the rifle, he observed the road closely and was relieved to see his truck pulling up towards the motor inn. "They're back!" he announced to the group. He climbed down from the roof and went to pull on the dumpster with Carley's help to allow Lee to pull into the parking lot. They were surprised to see at least six boxes of food in the back, as well as a man.

"What's going on here?" Kenny asked.

"Who the fuck is he?" Larry snapped as Lee, Lilly, and Talia exited the vehicle. "The trip there was a success. We got a lot of food for us." Lee announced as he handed the car keys to Kenny. "And this is Mark. We found him there when we were gathering food."

Mark waved at the group as he climbed out of the back. "Hi, there."

Larry sent a glare toward Mark while the other group members greeted him with a friendly wave or smile.

"Dad, Mark worked at the base like I did." Lilly told her father.

Larry just scowled. "What the fuck were you thinking bringing him here?! We have enough people as it is."

"Yeah, yeah... we get it, old man. Everyone on earth is scum except for you and your daughter." Kenny said in a sarcastic tone. "You stay out of this!" Larry spat.

"Dad, Mark had access to the food in one of the closets there. He helped us get the food to the truck." Lilly told him. "I don't care, Lilly! He needs to leave!" Larry snapped at his daughter. "This man needed help!" Talia interjected.

"He shoulda stayed there. There'd be less people to feed, then!" Larry frowned at her. "That isn't your decision, and without his help, you wouldn't be getting food, period." Lee said with his arms crossed over his chest and a glare aimed at Larry.

Larry shot a hate filled glare at Lee. "He's right. Mark stays." Lilly insisted. Larry spat. "If he wants to stay, then he'll have to EARN it." he scowled.

"I can help with setting up a type of defense around here..." Mark offered, seeing the beginnings of a fence being built. "That would be a big help." Talia nodded. Larry just grumbled and stormed away. "You help me get some furniture moved out of this room." he barked at Mark. "Uh... Okay." Mark muttered. Lee sighed and shook his head. "Welcome to the group, Mark..."

Clementine walked over to Talia. "Yes, Clementine?" the Forrester asked. "That man seems nice." Clementime said. "Is he?"

Talia glanced back at Mark as he followed Larry into one of the spare rooms. "He seems like it."

"Talia! Clementine! Wanna play soccer with me?" Duck asked cheerfully as he ran over to them.

Talia blinked as she looked down at the younger boy. "... how do you play soccer?"

"Well, you can't use your hands at all, and you gotta get the ball into the other team's goal past the goalie!" Duck told her. "Umm... okay. I guess it's one of those things that are harder than it looks?" Talia questioned. "We can use the barrels for the goal!" Duck smiled, not noticing her confusion. "I'll be the goalie!"

He set the ball down and ran over to the barrels while Talia stared blankly down at the ball. "... what do I do?" she inquired. "Kick it!" Duck said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Talia gently kicked the soccer ball with her foot and it rolled towards the goal. Duck stopped it with ease and tossed it back. Talia's eyes widened as it came rolling towards her and used her foot to stop it. "If you wanna get it in the goal, you need to move around a bit while you're kicking it." Clementine explained to Talia.

The older girl nodded and kicked the soccer ball while walking forward. Once she was a good distance away from Duck, she looked for a way to get it past him. She kicked it to the left and it rolled past Duck before he could stop it, resulting in the ball bumping against the barrels behind him. "You got it!" Clem smiled. Talia found herself smiling a bit. "I did..." she nodded.

Duck tossed the ball back to them. "Is that the best you got?"

Clementine kicked it next and it flew past Duck. Aw, man!" Duck groaned.

Clem smirked at him. Soon, she and Talia were having a face off with him. The two girls had teamed up to try and get the ball into the makeshift goal. They were certainly keeping Duck on his toes.

Talia was enjoying herself. If only they had games like this in Westeros. She found herself smiling. It almost felt like she was playing with Ryon again...

Her smile then faded. She still had nightmares of that moment, when Ethan protected her from Ramsay, only for the bastard to put a knife in his neck. Last night though, it had been worse. In it, Ethan came back as a walker and bit a chunk out of her arm while Whitehill soldiers ate Ryon.

She shuddered remembering the nightmare and shook her head, trying to focus on the game and kicked the ball. The ball flew past Duck again as he nearly fell over trying to block it. "We win!" Clementine smiled.

They then slapped their hands together. A high five, Clem called it. Talia smiled. She liked the sound of that.

Lee looked away from the boxes of food he was helping put up and smiled at the three. "Having fun?"

"Yeah! We were teaching Talia how to play soccer." Clementine smiled up at the man.

"It's quite fun." Talia agreed.

Lee smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."

"I think I'm going to go rest a bit." Talia told them. She had to keep on her toes to kick the ball around, so she decided to regain some energy. She headed back to her room and closed the door behind her.

Deciding to explore her new room a bit, she opened up a drawer and was rather confused to find a small, rectangular object lying in it. It had a gray color scheme to it with a white circle on it that had a couple tiny arrows pointing to the left and right. "What's this?" she wondered to herself as she picked it up. There was no title on the item, so that didn't help.

She noticed there was a button on the item, so she pressed it.

Almost immediately, music blared out of it, surprising the Westerosi. She nearly dropped the item with shock and fumbled to catch it, juggling it around a bit in her hands. "Seven hells!" she gasped. Talia finally managed to keep her grip on the strange item as music played out of it. She stared at it curiously. How was it doing that...?

She flipped it over, but couldn't find anything. Just what was this thing?

Talia sat down on he bed as she stared down with fascination at the odd device. A box that could sing and play music? It was like a gift from the gods.

She decided to play around with the little box for a bit, seeing what else it could do. She found when she pressed down on one of the arrows, a different type of music would be heard. It almost sounded like something from Westeros. It sounded nice...

It was gentle... and reminded her of home.

She sighed a bit at the thought. Someone knocked on her door and Carley stepped in. "Hi, Talia. How was that trip?"

Talia looked up from the device. "Oh! Well... It was... different from what I've seen. There was several walkers there... I actually managed to shoot one."

Carley smiled. "You're gonna get a lot of practice." She then noticed the device Talia had in her hands. "You found an iPod?" she asked with surprise. Talia blinked. "What's an 'eye-pod'?"

"It's a device we use here." Carley explained. "It can play music so we can listen to it wherever we go."

Talia looked at it. "It's like a gift from the gods."

Carley cracked a smile. "I guess it is like one, considering what's happening there."

Talia played around with the music playing device a little bit. Carley recognized the tune. "Listening to Celtic music?"

"Celtic?"

"It's a type of music that originated from the British Isles." Carley informed the teenager. "It sounds like the kind of music from home..." Talia noted. "From Westeros?" Carley asked.

Talia nodded a bit sadly. The music was making her miss her family even more. This also made her wonder how her family was faring now. Were the Whitehills and Boltons giving them trouble...?

* * *

Back in Ironrath, there was still a solemn mood in the air. Rodrik had sent out search parties again today, but like before, they failed to find anything. Elissa still suspected that the Whitehills were behind her disappearance, but they would have to wait and find out.

Rodrik had sent a raven to King's Landing to inform Mira of the grave news at hand. She needed to know what had happened to her younger sister after Ethan's death.

They had yet to contact Asher about the problem, as Malcolm had already gone to Essos to bring him back and Asher was still searching for a way to help their family.

Due to the funeral being postponed, Ethan and Gregor's bodies had been moved to an area where they would not be disrespected by the Whitehills. The bodies were currently in the grove, the only place they could think of where the Whitehill garrison wouldn't go down to while they were pushing the Forrester guards around. They laid upon a set of tables with cloths covering them.

All was quiet in the Ironwood grove with the occasional chirping of crickets here and there. Until a glow started to appear underneath the tarp that covered Ethan's body. Underneath... a finger twitched as color seemed to return to it.

The glow grew stronger until there was a flash of light.

And when the glow vanished... Ethan's body was gone. All that was left was the cloth.


End file.
